Let’s consider what follows as simply an honest admission, a confession-is-good-for-the-soul, that sort of thing.  Having highlighted our preferred events at church, it makes sense to give the dark side and say what we don’t like. So, for better or for worse, here goes…

I dislike church fights and arguments.

“Who does?” you say. Apparently, there are people who thrive on them. I’m not a member of that fraternity.

The church fights I have experienced are some of the most painful memories of my half-century of ministry. How do I hate thee, O church fights? Let me count the ways….

–That church business meeting on whether to cancel the Sunday night radio broadcast to save a few dollars, I was merely a spectator, but it was painful to see. The pastor and one group wanted to keep the program as it was drawing people to church; the finance committee and their group insisted the church could not afford it.

–One fight focused on “opening the doors of the church” to members of minority races.  I still grieve at the ugliness some good people demonstrated.

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My favorite place in church is the altar area. Sometimes, when I was pastoring, in the middle of a weekday, I would slip in and kneel there and spend time with the Lord. These days, whether I’m guest-preaching or in our home church in Kenner, I love to kneel at the altar and pray, and I often encourage others to do so.

The question arises as to “Why? What makes that place special?” After all, even though we call it the “altar,” it isn’t, not in the Old Testament sense or even the New Testament sense. Calvary is the ultimate altar for believers. The only answer I can find is: “I don’t know. I just know I need it and love it.”

What I do not understand is believers who never come to the altar and pray. It seems that only the most spiritually sensitive do, and I sure want to be among that number.

I love, love, love those times in church when for reasons unknown the congregational singing comes together like never before and everyone is singing at the top of their voices, the hymns are circulating around the room, bouncing off the ceiling and coming back to fill us, and our souls are lifted. It feels like we have touched the hem of the garment of our Lord, and makes us long for Heaven all that much more.

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“Speaking the truth in love.”  (Ephesians 4:15)

Facebook members are well acquainted with the way some who call themselves Christians can be brutal in the way they present truth to the world.

Their words are usually on target but their spirits are harsh and unloving. They defend the biblical family but damn anyone with a different point of view. They affirm the right of the unborn to live while consigning the “pro-choicers” to the farthest reaches of Hades. They hear that someone is making a film or writing a book or giving a speech against Jesus as Scripture presents Him and they lose their Christianity attacking such blasphemers.

Such people do more damage to the Lord’s cause than good.

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Sometimes, what makes an article, a conversation, or a sermon interesting is giving the dark side, the reverse of the ideal picture you had been presenting.

On this blog, I’ve been presenting “a few of my favorite things” (also people and places). That list would be incomplete–and probably boring–without a nod to the opposites, some things that we find most uncomfortable and unpleasing.  No doubt, we’ll think of others, but here is the list this Thursday morning, the last day of January in the year of our Lord 2013.

1) I dislike movies or books that were enjoyable until the makers decided to insert a sex scene to increase their sales.

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(I started this little series–my favorite things–a few days ago, and promised to end with this piece on my favorite places. We all have our favorite places. Here are some of mine, in no particular order.

Chartwell, the country home of Winston Churchill.

We were there in 1982 and I recall every detail of the visit. Roaming the campus, it was fascinating to see the brick walls Churchill himself had built (after working to learn how) during the 1930s when he was basically unemployed.  William Manchester’s second volume of the trilogy “The Last Lion” chronicles this period in WC’s life as “Alone.”  While we were there, I bought a book on Churchill and had Margaret snap my photo sitting under a tree reading it.  These days, I’m reading a book “Dining with Churchill” in which the author talks about the many meals at Chartwell attended by the greats of the world, what they ate and talked about, how those experiences affected history, etc. (In my den, you’ll find an entire shelf filled with books on Churchill. I’ve had to be more selective in buying more since several new ones come out every year, with no sign of stopping.)

Nauvoo, Alabama the family farmhouse and the surrounding environs.

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I know a lot about lazy preachers, being one myself. Every “prayer of a lazy preacher” below I have probably prayed in one way or another, to one degree or the other.

It’s easy to point at do-nothing pastors as being the anomaly and call for them to leave the ministry and stop being a blight on the name of the Lord. But in truth, many of us who work hard and long in serving Him are basically lazy and have to fight the urge to vegetate all the time. And, don’t be surprised if some of the real over-achievers found in the Lord’s work fight the same battles and are always working to compensate for those Beetle Baileyish desires to rest and then rest some more.

Consider these prayers of a lazy preacher.... (and, at the end, leave us yours)….

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“Preachers with sermons and children with laughter, deacons with stories and relative disasters…”

(In the previous post “A few of my favorite things,” we referred to the Julie Andrews song we all know so well. That started this little series and accounts for the not-serious attempt at song-writing above. Now, one explanation: In what follows, I am leaving out my best-loved people on the planet, my wife and children, our eight grandchildren, and all of my siblings but one, Ronnie, who just had to be mentioned.  Margaret says I’m going to slight some other well-loved friends by not including them. I assure her they will not mind, because anyone who calls themselves my longtime friend has been slighted by me so many times they’ve long since come to expect it, and nothing surprises them any more. So, why am I doing this list of a few of my favorite people? Answer: I have no idea. It just seemed like a good idea at the time. Next will be “A few of my favorite places.”)

I am what you would call a people-lover.  I am gregarious by nature (Ginger, that means I love being around them) most of the time, although after a while I’m ready to shut down and be alone. In the words of a friend-now-in-Heaven, Dr. Frank Pollard, I’ve learned to enjoy my own company.

But I love people. I love to talk with them and hear their stories, love to laugh with them and share their tears. I love to make new friends and renew old ones. And, I love to amuse myself remembering conversations with friends of past years who are no longer around to defend themselves. Up in Heaven, they are visiting with the great story-tellers of the ages–imagine sitting in a cluster at the feet of Moses or Abraham or Peter or Paul for a few years–and then, eventually someone turns to them and says, “Tell us your story, about the time you fell in the pond when you were preparing to baptize,” and they’re off and running.

I can’t wait.

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“….when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad…..”

If you are a songwriter, you make a list of your favorite things and include them in the lyrics and people everywhere know your heart and will sing your list.

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens….”

If you can’t compose songs, however, you may need to be more inventive to pass along your list.

Like, maybe, write about them in a blog.

So, on this Tuesday morning, the first day of President Obama’s final term in office (good news/bad news, depending on your perspective–“Lord bless and lead him, please!”), here is my favorite-things list. (Expect it to be followed with a list of my favorite people and favorite places. After that, we’ll see.)

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