The Phil Files

One of the blessings I’ve had while living in Abilene has been the opportunity to teach freshmen Bible students. FIfteen hours of Bible are required for any undergraduate degree at Abilene Christian University. This means several things:
1. Every student has to take Bible
2. The emphasis on Christian education is a real curriculum commitment
3. Many students grow in the Lord and some meet Him for the first time in Bible class
4. A few students make life difficult for others because they don’t want to take it

Yesterday, all these realities collided in my class. The vast majority of the class was plugged into the focus of the day, the crucifixion of Jesus. A few were disruptive and disrespectful of the class and were disruptive of the focus of the day — they were plugged into a shared ipod, phones, and chatter. I asked several of them to leave. I hated to do it, but their behavior was bothersome and distracting. In light of the subject of the day, it was also incredibly disrespectful of the price that Jesus paid for us. My prayer is that they won’t let this interfere with finishing the semester in a strong way and will use it to help them think about what is important and what is not.

To top all of this off, I received notice that another student has withdrawn from school just a few classes shy of the end of the semester. What breaks my heart about this is that while he got off to a rough and slightly disinterested start to the class, he rallied to bring his grade up to an “A,” sat near the front, was always congenial and involved in the discussions, and appeared to be growing in the Lord. My prayer for him is that he finds his way and receives what he needs for the next steps of his journey from godly people who love them.

I won’t be teaching this class for awhile. Lord willing, we (Donna and I, our daughter, and some friends) will be going to Cologne, Germany in January to teach preachers and church leaders there. I will also focus upon the m6trix communication concept in the days ahead. I will miss the students who are eager to learn and those who find themselves surprised by what they learn about Jesus. For now, however, my prayers will be with those students whose lives took an unexpected turn in the last couple of days.

Yesterday morning, I met with our vision team synthesis leaders — Vann Conwell, Mark Viertel, & myself — and two very bright and godly young men, Kevin Christian and Matt Boisvert. We talked about ways to effectively roll out the visionwe believe the Lord has placed before us as His mission for our church family. This has been the year-long work of 19 folks who have sought to follow the Lord’s guidance and also listened to input from people in our congregation.

As we discussed the vision rollout, Matt asked the question, “So how do we launch this idea virus?”

What a powerful image. A virus replicates by attaching to a host organism. It has no life of its own, but has to attach itself to a living organism to be passed on to other hosts. An idea replicates much the same way. It has to be absorbed, attached, affirmed, and shared. However, in a Kingdom context, we believe that a “God idea” or a God-shaped sense of mission, is more than just a parasitic element attached to a living organism as its source of mobility and sustenance. Kingdom idea viruses have the power of the Holy Spirit to help spread their infectious impact for God and for good. They can ride on the wind of the Spirit and reach many more people.

I don’t know where you and your congregation are in responding to God’s “idea viruses,” but I’m praying that all of us will be more open to the moving of God in our time and in our own communities. I can’t think of a greater need for our time than for us to move beyond the box — more than thinking out of the box or beyond the box, we need to leave the box behind! (John 4:23) We’ve got to find ways to do the work of God in relevant, meaningful, and faithful ways in our world in our time. This is one viral outbreak I’m praying to explode across our world.

For I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? (Isaiah 43:19 NLT)

FYI, I’ll be at the Pepperdine Lectures next week sharing one of those “idea viruses” called m6trix communication. I’ll share some of that with you along the way. In addition, I’m excited about one of those “idea viruses” that has begun to catch hold at Southern Hills because it’s not just an idea anymore, it’s a commitment to a certain style of ministry. Stayed tuned, who knows where all of this is going to go!

Tuesday was one of THOSE days. You know what I’m talking about — nothing goes quite right. It’s not that it is a disaster, mind you. No, it’s just that my blood never circulates any higher than the bottom of my ear lobes. Normally simple functions are hard. Hard things are impossible. Tough stuff is just a disaster waiting to happen. It was a 3 “Duh!” day!

Usually a 1 “Duh!” day ramps up into something more productive with the help of a little Dr. Pepper, a brisk walk, or a near miss on the freeway. For me, a little bump of caffeine/sugar, endorphins, or that adrenalin rush that only wild terror brings can move me out of the “Duh!” day doldrums into a more normal frenetic pace that my life seems to need.

A 2 “Duh!” finds me in that “out of it” sort of way into the lunch hour, only to come out of it after a good lunch, a visit with friends, or one of those junk mailers disguised as a “OPEN IMMEDIATELY IRS TIME SENSITIVE MATERIAL.” If that doesn’t do it, usually the gravitational pull of the sun as it migrates from one edge of the horizon overhead to the other horizon kinda pulls the blood out of my feet into my brain. By early afternoon, the tide has turned in my “Duh!”-ness.

Now a 3 “Duh!”day is what I had Tuesday. I just couldn’t get anything working between my ears. Caffeine, a traffic scare, and a roomful of crazed college students inflamed by the 5 tests and 6 term papers due in the next two weeks couldn’t kick me into gear. So here I was, at the end of the day, still stuck with my transmission in “Duh!” gear.

Friends had kindly traded cars with us the night before so that our Trailblazer could be worked on at the dealership. They generously let us drive their new Tahoe while our lesser vehicle received it’s necessary makeover. When the work was finished, I went to pick up our Trailblazer at our friends house.

My first Duh was to actually trade back! What kind of reasonable West Texas male would do such a thing? Drive that Tahoe around town. Wave at folks who are acquaintances, but not really friends, to make them jealous of your new ride! Take a friend to get a Route 44 drink at Sonic. Enjoy that new Bose surround sound and the satellite radio that makes dental floss unnecessary. You know, milk the ride for an event. But alas, returning it promptly was the proper thing to do. So it really wasn’t that much of a Duh. No biggie.

My second Duh was to leave Donna’s parking permit in the Tahoe when I picked up our Trailblazer. Yep, she helped me realize it shortly after I got home. So, I had to interrupt our friends who had been so generous to let us drive their new rig. They were right in the middle of their supper and here I was bothering them to get the parking permit and drive back home again. Now that’s a real Duh, a double Duh, seeing as how the permit was hanging from the rear view mirror in plain view. I sheephishly picked up the permit, waved at my friends, and drove away with the sounds of, “Duh, was that dumb!” ringing in my ears, only to discover it was my voice saying it. They were much too kind, and I was kinda “kinduh” “duhmb” embarrassed.

About 90 minutes later came the Coup de “Duh!” — otherwise known as Triple “Duh!” or “Duh!”³. Yes, I proved it was a 3 “Duh!” day when I suddenly realized that my briefcase and computer were still in the Tahoe at our friends house. Yes, I was going to have to call our friends, interrupt them again, and let them know that I needed to get more stuff out of their Tahoe. Their attempt to save me time and travel was now on its third trip.

Fearing what else I might forget, do, or destroy, the volunteered to bring me my briefcase and computer rather than having me come get it. “We have to get out,” they consoled me. “Yeah,” I thought to myself, “if you don’t come fix this problem, I may be calling you again for leaving my head behind.” Yes, I still remember my mom saying, “You’d forget that head if it weren’t sewn on.” I hated to admit that on a 3 “Duh!” day she was absolutely correct.

To add to the “Duh!” of it all, when they arrived at our house, they rang the door bell and we didn’t hear it. So they had to call us on their mobile phone to try to get our attention. By the time I got to the front door, they had moved to the garage door to try to find us to give me my briefcase back. “Duh!” “Duh!” and more “Duh!”

Now there were many other smaller duhs during this day — repeated trips back to the place I started when I couldn’t remember why I came into a room and trying to put trash in the dishwasher and dirty plates in the trash, you know that kind of stuff. So I was certainly glad when it all came to an end when I climbed in bed, closed my eyes, and remembered … Oh “Duh!”

It’s Resurrection Sunday afternoon — I know, everybody else calls it Easter, but I just like the other title! I’m emotionally exhausted and a bit physically weary. Donna and I have had five deaths close to our church families — both Southern Hills and Westover Hills. We even have another death pending. With meeting and trying to remember the names of so many visitors today and with the concern for all the funerals, it is not surprising that the image of a man carrying a burden caught my eye and opened my heart to the let the Lord speak to me. This is the small version of what the Spirit helped me see.

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