Three events of special interest to the Lord’s people will take place in our city on Tuesday, August 29. While various concerts and meetings will be going on all over the metropolitan area commemmorating the first anniversary of life changing forever in New Orleans, we will have a prayer rally at the First Baptist Church of New Orleans, the Baptist Seminary will mobilize a thousand students and teachers throughout the city, and we will address the city with a full-page ad in the Times-Picayune.

The Prayer Rally

Held at the First Baptist Church of New Orleans on Canal Boulevard that Tuesday at 7 pm, this event is sponsored by the interdenominational Pastors’ Coalition of New Orleans, the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans (that’s us), and PRC Compassion, a pastors’ group from throughout a larger area.

In our planning meeting, one thing everyone agreed on was that “prayer rallies” tend to do everything but pray. As with mayors’ prayer breakfasts, you line up speaker after speaker and very little actual praying gets done. Not this time.

Some of the prayer leaders will include Dennis Watson of Celebration Church, Michael Green of Faith Church, Kathy Radke of the West Bank Cathedral, and Cornelius Tilton of the Irish Channel Ministries. Bishop J. D. Wiley and I will do invocation and benediction. In between, Fred Luter will speak and possibly–just possibly, we haven’t heard for sure yet–Anne Graham Lotz.

Music will be provided by a choir composed of the praise leaders from Williams Boulevard Church, Franklin Avenue Church, and FBC-NO. George Huff, popular local singer who made it big on American Idol a year or two ago, is expected to be present; if so, he may do a mini-concert after the program ends.

Host Pastor David Crosby says, “We will recognize the amazing work of the Salvation Army, Samaritan’s Purse, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, Operation Blessing, and PRC Compassion as well as the wonderful work of many of our churches as part of the rally…. We are preparing a 5-7 minute video that seeks to capture this part of the story.”

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“Father in Heaven. My Lord and my God. Saviour and Redeemer. Friend in my deepest need.

Hear the cry of my heart, feel the pain of my soul, see the need of my life.

Cleanse me of all my sin.

Take away everything in me…

…that does not bow before Thee as Lord.

…that does not have Thy name on it.

…that is resistant to Thy Spirit.

…that is impure and unworthy of Thee.

Remove from me…

…all attitudes and opinions and convictions that do not originate in Thee;

…every desire and motive and plan and ambition in conflict with Thy holy will;

…anything that runs and hides when You enter, that laughs when I believe, that squirms when I pray, that fears when I trust;

…Whatever in me does not give Thee joy, make Thee proud, and serve Thy purpose;

All of this, take away, please…

…everything that holds me back, weights me down, and cheapens my praise,

take away and make me whole.

By the precious blood of Jesus, purge my iniquity.

In the matchless name of Jesus, make me clean.

For the wonderful sake of Jesus, draw me to Thee.

Make me whole and holy and wholesome.

Make me right and upright and righteous.

Give me a heart that wants only to do Thy will, that answers only to Thy call, that serves only to hear Thy ‘well done.’

Amen.”

Have you ever been so filthy you wanted a bath more than anything else in the world? I have. Have you felt that kind of soul-soil that stains and defiles and makes you shrink from reading your Bible or bowing in prayer out of pure shame? I’ve been there, too.

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Every two weeks Neil comes over with 12-year-old Grant and works up our lawn. We pay Grant, who is learning the craft from a master teacher. Meanwhile, Neil’s 9-year-old twins, Abby and Erin, take over our household for those two-hours. Saturday, they gave me no peace for sitting at this computer the entire time, working on the “Learning to Receive” blog. “Grandpa, we’re here! It’s time to play!” I adore them and see them often, so it’s not like we don’t log enough one-on-two time together. Grandma played with them while I worked. That’s when they tricked her.

They played rummy–this family’s favorite card game for generations–and checkers. Only later did Grandma discover they had alternated on her. She thought she was playing with Abby the whole time, but they were switching, having a little fun at her expense. You would think at their age they had done this a lot, but they haven’t. That’s why it took Margaret so completely by surprise.

Abby stood at my shoulder and said, “Write about me, Grandpa.” I said, “I do. Whenever you do something worth writing about.” She puffed up and said, “I do. All the time. I turn cartwheels. I stand on my head. And Erin and I have this long routine we do, our special handshake.” That’s true. That handshake is something to behold, with perhaps a hundred elements. They twist and bump in unison, slap hands, rub elbows, on and on, all the while with eyes locked on each other and laughing all the way.

Our Plano, Texas friends, Jeff and Tiffany Dillon, have just found they’re going to have twins. My observation is that these two children will be the envy of their siblings; each one will always be next to his/her best friend. From a grandparent’s point of view, twins are double the fun and laughter.

They’re returning to regular school in a few days, after two years of being home-schooled by Julie. Neil and Julie have evidently decided the kids are missing out on some important aspects of school which they do not get when they do their lessons at the dining room table, still in their p.j.s. After looking into a number of local schools, they chose–to my complete surprise–a Catholic school, Our Lady of Divine Providence, located a half-mile from their home. In the same way our school at FBC Kenner had Catholic kids, this one has plenty of Protestant young-uns and even some Muslims. The religion classes, we’ve been assured, are basic Bible stuff. The children are eager and understandably a little anxious. The girls just learned they will be in separate classrooms. “But that’s all right,” one said. “We’re on the same hall.” Only a year ago did their parents install bunk beds and introduce them to the concept of sleeping in your own bed. That was an adjustment, but they made it.

Bryan and Rebecca Harris were in town Friday, helping their daughter Aleesa move into a dormitory at our New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. This was not a small thing on their part–they live in Vallejo, California, where Bryan pastors a wonderful church. He was a member of the staff of FBC Columbus MS and then FBC Charlotte NC where I pastored, so this family is like our family. Aleesa was entering her second year of seminary last August when Katrina intervened. I love it that she’s back. No one returning to school here this fall will come just because they love the exoticism of New Orleans. This is all about a calling to help a city find its soul.

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My “daughter in the Lord” Mary has a keen insight into the Lord’s servants, being one herself. Recently, she commented that her husband and some of us down here in Katrina-land are great quarterbacks but lousy halfbacks. I recognize a football metaphor when I see one but had to ask what it meant.

“A quarterback gives to others but is a poor receiver. My husband would give the shirt off his back and serve until he couldn’t stand any longer. But he can’t receive a gift graciously. Once he returned a Lazy-Boy recliner we gave him for Father’s Day. He can’t catch a compliment without dropping it.”

She added, “I worry about you burning out and pray for God to give you the encouragement and renewal that you need.”

It might come as a surprise to Mary, but I think a lot about the necessity of learning to receive graciously. Couple of little stories on that subject. (Sorry. Everything reminds me of a story.)

Years ago, Evangelist Perry Neal of Montgomery was passing through our city of Columbus, MS, and I invited him to lunch. As we sat in the dining room of the Holiday Inn, I remarked about the huge “Alabama” belt buckle he was wearing. Without a word, he unsnapped it and handed it across the table. I said, “Perry! I don’t want your belt buckle.” He said, “McKeever, learn to be a gracious receiver!” I said, “Give it here!” And I’ve kept it ever since. It’s as big as a platter and reminds me of a rodeo champion’s buckle, but I break it out occasionally and wear it with my denims, usually while donning my Bo Parker cowboy boots from the same period in my young adulthood.

Cindy Pelphrey, wife of Tom, long-time friends, was serving as a youth minister at a large church. One day a man in the congregation approached her. “Cindy, would you like some turnip greens? My garden is really looking great this year.” Cindy told him the truth: “No, thank you very much. We don’t eat turnip greens and frankly, they’re a lot of trouble to prepare.” The man’s jaw dropped and he walked away. He was obviously hurt, but Cindy had no clue what to do about it. A moment later, her pastor’s wife walked over and put her arm around her. “Honey,” she said, “never turn down a gift. It gives pleasure to the giver, and if you can’t use it, you can always pass it on to someone else.”

I have assured Mary that as a veteran pastor, I long ago learned how to receive. Preachers live off the generosity of others. This, of course, offends some with an inflated sense of ego, and leaves all of us in a quandry. Either we resist people’s gifts and deprive them of the blessings of giving, or we overdo it and become focused on finding ways to get people to give to us. Both are ditches in between which lies the road.

Recently after preaching at Calvary in Alexandria, a gentleman thrust a hundred-dollar bill in my hand. “Put it where it’s needed,” he said. Then, this week, a friend from Mississippi sent me a check for the same amount. Friday, when one of our pastors came by to discuss a problem he is going through, I presented him with two hundred dollars. Gifts from the Lord.

One of our Mission Service Corp couples received some money from our Katrina relief funds the other day. We knew they were having a financial struggle and put in a request for some assistance for them. Friday, the wife sent an e-mail asking whom to thank. I said, “God. I’ll tell Him.”

Someone once said, “No one unwilling to be eternally in debt can ever become a disciple of Jesus Christ.”

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John McCusker is a photographer for the Times-Picayune whose great shots have long been a special feature of the paper. When I was pastoring at Kenner, he sometimes took our photos for articles and interviews. Tuesday, he tried to commit “suicide by cop.”

Reports indicate he was depressed over his insurance check being insufficient to rebuild his flooded house in East New Orleans. In that deep funk, he tore out down Napoleon Avenue in his SUV, driving erratically and side-swiping several vehicles, which attracted the police to him. As they approached with guns drawn, he called, “Just kill me. Get it over with,” and threw the gear into reverse, pinning an officer between his SUV and the cruiser. To the credit of the police, they did not fire their weapons but immobilized him with a taser. He’s being held for psychiatric examination. Police were uncertain what charges would be filed.

At our Wednesday pastors meeting at Metairie’s Good Shepherd Spanish Baptist Church, NAMB Counselor Joe Williams spoke to the depression and fatigue McCusker and others are experiencing. We need to talk about how we are feeling, he said, before emotions become so overwhelming we’re ready to explode. Joe is working up a program for helping pastors assist their congregations with these scary feelings.

Steve Gahagan (Operation NOAH Rebuild) introduced Tim Agee who has come as his assistant. Tim and his wife are from a small Alabama town. “We’re here for the duration,” he said. (I wonder if he knows what he’s saying!) Tim meets with homeowners to assess their situations, then coordinates volunteers coming to work on those houses. Gahagan asked our pastors to please let him know anything they find out about what’s going to happen in their respective parishes after August 29, the deadline some have established for houses to be worked on or face demolition.

Alberto Rivera (Regional strategist for the LBC) introduced his wife Romy to the group of 50 attending Wednesday’s meeting. Last week he spoke to mission specialists across America about our situation. “They are praying for us,” he said. He looked at me and said, “Brother Joe, they are praying for you.” Thank you.

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If You Are Coming To Help Us Rebuild New Orleans….

1. Thank you very much. Over the 2 years since Katrina, we have been so blessed by church groups (as well as individuals) from all over America who have come this way at their own expense and at great inconvenience to themselves. Trust me, we know how blessed we are.

2. Here is the contact information for me personally and for our association, in case you have more questions or need more information.

BAPTIST ASSOCIATION OF GREATER NEW ORLEANS

2222 Lakeshore Driver, New Orleans, LA 70122

Office phone: 504 282 1428

Associational website: www.bagnola.org

My personal website: joe[-at-]joemckeever.com

My cell phone number: 504 615 0149

3. If you have not been to New Orleans since Katrina and are considering bringing a group in to work or minister, may I suggest you come on a scouting trip in advance (or have someone else come). It will help to see what the condition of the city is, where your group will be staying and working, what the accommodations are, etc. The airline service is great (finally!), so in many cases you can arrive in the morning, take the tour and see all you need to see, then fly home in the evening.

4. The North American Mission Board’s ministry in New Orleans is called “Operation NOAH Rebuild.” Their phone number is 504 362 4604. The office is located at Calvary Baptist Church in the Algiers section of New Orleans, and Dianne Gahagan is the office manager. Her husband Steve is the construction coordinator. David Maxwell is another leader whom we appreciate so much.

For over a year, NOAH has been housing volunteers in the World Trade Center in downtown New Orleans, but the contract has expired and future teams will be housed at the Hopeview Church site in St. Bernard Parish. They have beds and excellent provisions for nearly 200 persons a night. The NOAH office can give you information and make arrangements. They will help your group find houses to rebuild, etc.

5. The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, located at 3939 Gentilly Boulevard in the Gentilly section of the city, has a full-service program called “MissionLab.” They will house your group on campus in the Nelson Price Building, provide all meals, transportation, leadership, Bible studies, and everything. Call the seminary at 504/282-4455 and ask for MissionLab.

6. “Baptist Crossroads” is a joint venture of the First Baptist Church of New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity. See their website at www.baptistcrossroads.com. For the next several years, they will be erecting new homes in the hard-hit Ninth Ward of New Orleans, and will have great needs for teams of volunteers. At the end of their website you will find their contact information.

7. Some of our churches are set up to host church teams coming to the city. You will need to contact them directly and make arrangements. Each situation is a little different. Some charge a small fee to help with expenses; others rely on donations.

Oak Park Baptist Church, located at 1110 Kabel in the Algiers section of New Orleans (on the West Bank, across the river from downtown), is set up to accommodate a large number of volunteers. Phone 504/392-1818. (They’re presently without a pastor. Dr. Jerry Barlow is interim. Sara Parnell runs the church office.)

Highland Baptist Church at the intersection of Cleary and Rayne in Metairie can host smaller groups of volunteers. Scott Smith is pastor. Their phone is 504/833-2772.

Vieux Carre’ Baptist Church, located in the heart of the French Quarter, one block over from Bourbon Street, is located at 711 Dauphine Street. Greg Hand is pastor. This church has been set up for many years to host church teams that wish to minister (witness) in the Quarter. Phone 504/523-7335.

8. Churches wishing to bring in groups for more traditional ministries (backyard Bible clubs, block parties, or other evangelistic activities) and wanting to connect with a church, may contact David Rhymes in our associational office. David is an evangelism strategist with NAMB, and has lived in this city many years. His email is drhymes[-at-]namb.net, and he can be reached through our associational office 504/282-1428.

A quick story for you. Dennis Watson, pastor of Celebration Church in Metairie, tells of a Christian businessman who moved to New Orleans several years ago to begin a new business. He checked into a downtown hotel and spent the day walking around the city. That night as he knelt by his bed in prayer, God spoke to him. Later, he joined Dennis’ church and told him what God said.

Thank you.

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Keisha Moran was living in Waveland, Mississippi, with her small children when Katrina destroyed their home along with the town. Oprah Winfrey found them living in a tent on a parking lot and featured their story on national television. Leaders from St. Paul United Church of Christ in Palatine, Illinois, a half hour northwest of Chicago, took pity and invited her family to move into the church parsonage rent-free. The idea was to give her enough time and opportunity to start afresh.

It’s a nice home–two story, three bedroom, located next to the church. Members fixed up the house and moved Keisha and her children in last September. What the two parties did not do was have a clear understanding on how long she would be allowed to stay in the home. Now, almost a year later, the relationship between the Katrina evacuee and the compassionate church is wearing thin.

Keisha Moran says she has until December 31 to get out. The church wants her out now, this month. “They told me I could stay until December 31 rent-free,” she told a reporter for the Associated Press. “Then we’d work out the rent.”

That is not how church leaders remember the agreement. Terry Ryan, speaking for the congregation, told the reporter they had a verbal agreement that Moran could stay until June 2006, at which time everyone would meet to “revisit” the matter. In a statement released last Friday, leaders say they have tried numerous times to meet with Moran to create a lease. “She never responded to our numerous requests for that meeting,” the statement said.

Keisha said, “I feel like it’s coming across that maybe I’m ungrateful, but that’s not it. I’m not asking them to give me money. I just don’t have a roof to put over my children’s head.”

I wonder how many times this same scenario is playing out all across this land. Churches and communities opened their hearts, their homes, and their wallets to take care of our people who lost everything in the hurricane and subsequent flooding. Initially, warm feelings abounded on both sides. The victims thought their hosts were the best people on the planet. The hosts rejoiced at this opportunity to show hospitality to “the least of these my brethren.” But that was then; this is now.

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Saturday the First Baptist Church of Waggaman held a block party, culminating the work of a fine group of adults and youth from Dallasburg Baptist Church in Wheatley, Kentucky. Matt Dye is their pastor.

“We held a Vacation Bible School all week,” Matt said in answer to my question. “And a revival at night. In the daytime, the adults landscaped the yards. We put in that fence over there. And a new baptistry in the church.” And that’s not all. “Yesterday, we handed out bottles of water to people at intersections and invited them to the block party. Plus, we’ve visited several hundred homes in this area.”

Waggaman is a long, skinny village lining the west bank of the Mississippi, just upriver from Northrop-Grumman’s Avondale Shipyards where my son Neil works as a corporate trainer. Many of the several thousand employees live in Waggaman. Bobby Malbrough has been bi-vocational pastor of the FBC here for a number of years. Before Katrina, he worked for Nunez Community College in St. Bernard Parish, a position that vanished along with most everything else in that parish last August 29. Bobby had invited me to the party, to sit under a tent and sketch people to my heart’s content as part of the festivities.

“We’re leaving early tomorrow morning,” Matt Dye told me. A long Sunday drive back to Wheatley, halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati. I could see what a fine job they had done on the campus. The church yards were lovely and everyone was having a great time at the block party. These Kentuckians have strengthened the Lord’s church in this area, and for that, we are in their debt.

The men of the FBC of Kenner held their monthly breakfast Sunday at 7:30. Johnny Barlow and these fellows have figured out how to have a Baptist Men’s ministry. They have no program as such, no speakers, just various ones of their group reporting on the work they are involved in and promoting the work they are planning. Bob Huffman gave an account on the progress of the new port ministry center at Global Maritime Center on Tchoupitoulas Street. “We need six new bookcases,” he said, “to display Bibles in all the various languages for the seamen coming into the center. We expect to give away hundreds and hundreds of copies of God’s Word.” Then he said, “We’ve received enough money to buy the materials. Now, we need men who know how to build bookcases. Maybe someone with a table saw. Let me know. We want to get this done this month.”

Danny Moore took early retirement from Dow Chemical and has joined the Kenner staff as administrator. He promoted an upcoming work day in which teams will restripe parking lots, making more room for seniors and visitors, and will paint the inside of the sanctuary in preparation for the new carpets, plus playground and fence alterations. New deacon chairman Tom Howell shared his vision on this church becoming a beacon for metro New Orleans.

As I headed home to get ready for church, it occurred to me the main reason I attend this breakfast. Not just to spend time with my son and grandson, although that is very special, and not for that great cholesterol-laden breakfast of huge biscuits, thick bacon, and sausage gravy. It’s the laughter, the fellowship. After an hour with these men, I feel uplifted. There’s a camaraderie and a joy in the Lord, a “glad to see you” which all men need.

I found myself wishing every man in the church was in on this. It may be the best hour of the month for many, as well as the best-kept secret in the congregation.

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Two weeks ago, an older gentleman did something nice for a fellow motorist–something I have done on several occasions–and it cost the life of his grandson.

The two cars pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store at the same time. The grandfather and his grandson got out and started into the store, just as the other driver was walking in. “You ought to use your turn signal,” Grandpa said. “What? You talking to me?” the other man said. He was obviously on edge and perhaps spoiling for a fight. That should have signaled Grandpa to back off and let it go. But he didn’t.

“I was following you just now and almost hit you. You made that turn without giving a signal. I was just saying you ought to use your turn signal. It’s just common courtesy.” Simple enough, the older man thought. Just trying to be a good neighbor, doing his little part to make the streets safe.

What he did not count on with that the other driver was crazy. Or at least, afflicted with poor mental health, maybe having a bad day, and completely unwilling to suffer a rebuke from anyone. He retaliated with a verbal assault on the grandfather who, being human and reacting normally, he thought, responded in kind.

Three times now, the grandfather had miscalculated. First, in trying to correct the bad driver. Secondly, in not dropping it when the other fellow reacted poorly. And now, in not getting away before this thing escalated out of hand.

As their altercation intensified in energy and emotion, the stranger walked to his car and pulled a pistol out of the glove compartment. He pointed it at the older man and fired. The bullet grazed his head, but killed the grandson who had been standing nearby, the innocent bystander in all this. A tragedy of great proportions that did not need to occur.

As I see it, the blame for the child’s death goes squarely to the grandfather. He was the only responsible adult in this story and he surrendered control of the moment to the bad guy. He will spend the rest of his life grieving over the death of this beloved child and over his inability to control the impulse that was burning within him to correct the poor driving of another motorist.

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