Hey Fletch

This week I upgraded my Sony Vaio laptop to Windows 7 from Vista. My last computer died after falling off the coffee table this summer. Fortunately, when I replaced it, the new computer was eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it was released. On Thursday, one week after the official release, my upgrade DVD finally came. I had always been under the impression that with upgrading a windows machine it is always preferable to do a clean install rather than an upgrade. I chose against doing the clean install for several reasons. First, I wanted to follow Sony’s instructions explicitly, so as to not have to worry about a support call when something didn’t work. Second, I bought this particular computer, in part, because it included a copy of MS Office (I chose office over a blu-ray player). Since Office was pre-installed, I wasn’t sure how to do a clean install of Windows 7 without losing Office as well. I then started thinking about the other accessory drivers (2 printers as well as an external wireless adapter) that I would have to try to install all over again. I have a pretty technical setup at the office that I plug into and I don’t want to have to do all of that over again.

Sony actually sent me 2 DVD’s. The first one was the Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit disc, and the second a companion disk with model specific drivers and software. The instructions told me to start with the Win 7 disc and then install the companion disk.

I started the Windows 7 disc at precisely 3:11pm. During the beginning of the process a warning box appeared to let me know that there was an issue with iTunes and that I would need to deauthorize my computer and uninstall iTunes before installing Win 7. Though it gave me that warning, it would not let me cancel the installation, so I just followed right on through. I finished the Win 7 installation at 5:45pm (2 hours and 34 minutes) and began the installation of the Sony Companion DVD. This DVD loaded Sony specific drivers and software. It took longer than I expected, finally finishing at 7:10pm (1 hour 25 minutes; 3 hours 59 minutes total).

Upon examining my newly upgraded machine I noticed that the SONY disc had contained some video editing and media software that was not included when I purchased the machine. I also noticed that everything seemed to be working perfectly.

When I plugged my printers and wireless adapter in, they instantly appeared and were ready to use.

iTunes worked fine on Thursday, but by Friday morning I was getting a message that my computer was not authorized. Since I had already used my 5 allowed authorizations a quick call to Apple Support walked me through the process. In 15 minutes I had iTunes fixed without losing any files, apps, or music.

Having upgraded a machine from Win 95 to NT and a machine from Win ME to XP, this was by far the best Windows upgrade I had ever accomplished.

The GCR Task Force has been operating under some sense of secrecy.  Their meetings are closed, though several of the members have been out speaking publicly (i.e., Akin, Gilbert, Floyd).  After the GCR meeting this week in Dallas with the state execs, Baptist Press reported that Ronnie Floyd (task force chairperson) made some comments.  I had been hoping that the GCR task force would release at least the general sense of their recommendations before the SBC in June.  According to BP:   “Our avowed intention is to bring as much as we can to the February meeting of the SBC Executive Committee,” Floyd said. “This is a huge challenge, but we are pushing ourselves hard. Orlando is our ultimate deadline, but only for the final form of our report.”

I’ll be looking forward to it.  In the meantime I am going to www.pray4gcr.com.

Dr. Al Mohler gave an address yesterday on the future of the Southern Baptist Convention.  At 50 minutes, it ranks up there as the best apology for a Great Commission Resurgence since Danny Akin’s “Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence.”  What Dr. Mohler adds to the discussion is that he spends the first third of his address on some historical perspective on the SBC, how it came to be the way it is, and how it has reorganized several times.  Thanks to SBTS for the video and allowing me to embed it here.  For another bit of historical contribution, I would recommend Norman Jameson’s article in the Biblical Recorder here.

B21 Panel From 2009 SBC Annual Meeting from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.

I was very supportive of the Great Commission Resurgence, I signed the first document, and so wanted to be at this panel.  Here is the video, enjoy!

Last night was the first night of our VBS, Son Rock Kids Camp. We had a good open with many umchurched kids in Attendance. Pray that hearts will be changed by Christ.

This past Sunday I preached a message from Ephesians 4:11-13 focused on the pastor’s call to equip the church. There is an interesting progression that Paul lays out here. He calls pastors (specifically, apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and/or teachers) to equip the saints. It is our responsibility as pastors to equip, that is to train, to prepare, to lead the people of God to do what? To do the work of the ministry.

I made the illustration that within a 5-mile radius of our church in beautiful Hickory Tavern, South Carolina, live an estimated 6500 people. Assuming average households of 4, if I visited each home, averaging 1 per day, it would take me by myself 5 years to make contact with each person just in this small radius. Now, if our entire church was equipped and set out on the same goal, averaging one visit per day, we could make a personal visit to each person in our community in less than 1 month. Truth be told, if our entire church got on fire in doing the work of the ministry, it probably wouldn’t take even that long.

Paul then gives us the result of when the people of God are equipped to do the work of the ministry, that the body of Christ (the church) will be built up. It will be strengthened, enhanced, and it will grow. It will grow deep and it will grow wide. Lest we think we have arrived, Paul finally gives us the time-frame. How long are we do be at this work? Until we all reach maturity! Our country’s education policy is called “No Child Left Behind” May that be our cry! Though appearing to be mature adults on the outside, many of us are still immature spiritually. May we never stop growing, never stop seeking, never stop serving, never stop worshipping, never stop drawing closer to the Lord.

I told our church that I wanted to be a player-coach. I wanted to keep my responsibility to coach them, to equip them to do the work of the ministry, and then when it is time to work–to go suit up in my uniform and get out and get dirty for the Lord.

National Day of Prayer - Laurens, SC - May 7, 2009

Today I enjoyed my first observance of the National Day of Prayer by joining with about 15 local pastors and a small crowd of about 45 on the steps of the historic courthouse in beautiful downtown Laurens, South Carolina.  The rally was led by Laurens Baptist Associational Missionary Reiny Koschel (pictured).  What surprised me the most was that apart from the lone Presbyterian and Methodist, it was largely a Baptist gathering.  I know that I’m now living and serving in Southern Baptist-land, but this was more like going to a Baptist convention than a cross-section of evangelical Christianity.  Maybe standing on the courthouse steps in the center of town and publicly practicing Romans 13 by praying for our President, Congress, the Supreme Court, the Governor, all the way down to the local School Board is out of fashion.  It might not be in the too distant future that public displays of faith like the one we partook in today might be considered bigotry and hate-speech.  In the mean-time I’m going to continue to take a public stand for the truth of the Gospel.

I’m starting my first sermon series as pastor of Henderson Baptist Church called “A Pastor’s Call.” Each week I will be focusing on a different passage and aspect of the call of the pastor. Last week, my first sermon was from Isaiah 6:1-8 entitled “A Pastor’s Call: to Worship.” This is one of my favorite passages from the Old Testament, and one in which I have preached several times before. My premise is that the pastor’s primary call is to worship and to lead the people of God to worship. I was struck with the emphasis in Isaiah 6 upon entering God’s presence how Isaiah first saw the glory of God, was struck with his own sinfulness, confessed his sin, and then received forgiveness. One part of this passage that hadn’t really struck me until just this week was that it wasn’t until Isaiah had dealt with his sin and received forgiveness that he heard from the Lord. Finally, the call to worship leads to mission–with the Lord saying “Who will go” and Isaiah saying “Here am I, send me.” This week I signed a statement calling for a Great Commission Resurgence. What many across the SBC are hoping for is a resurgence in churches, pastors, and people all being involved in fulfilling the great commission in a greater way than ever before. I believe that we are all called to be missionaries-starting right where we live. May a Great Commission Resurgence begin, and may it begin with me.

Many thanks to PRTC for hooking us up to DSL service. Since late 2007 we’ve been connected to the internet using a Verizon Wireless EVDO connection. While handy to have while traveling, and better than dialup, it was still slower than a typical broadband connection. Once we moved to SC we also discovered that our location had spotty coverage, at best. That left us with only intermittent internet access (Just try accessing the internet with a on-again-off-again connection and see how much you can get accomplished!). Well, we’re now cruising along at a more typical 3.0 Mbps, which seems lightning fast in comparison.