Since I was in jr. high, I have held to a life verse; Philippians 1:3. “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.”  I hold on to this verse because I have always found it important to remember those who have guided me and impacted me along my journey in life.  Much of those “remembrances” involve communal experiences where I was able to glean from their actions, not only their words.

Fast forward to earlier this week when I received an email from a church member who had been in communication with a friend and former member at Preston Ridge who had expressed how much she missed being with us during our worship services and Bible studies.  The current church member made it known that over the holiday’s another former church member had made it back to Preston Ridge for a visit and was able to sing a duet with me during that time.  Upon hearing this, I was contacted to see if there was a recording of the duet I could pass along so this former member could “experience” this reunion and time of worship.  I was excited to share this recording. I had been given a copy after the service so it was as easy as emailing the .mp3 out.  The next day I received a response reading, “Friends, I can not tell you how blessed I was by this!  Thank you BOTH for sharing!!  Miss you all!!”

Let’s go back to Paul at the beginning of Philippians and let me post a couple of verses from his introduction.  Verse 3 says, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you…” Later in verse 7, “For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart…” and then in verse 8, “…how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

Are you making the connections yet?  Is this idea of community in scripture coming to life for you as it did for me this week?  I replied to her telling her how much joy it brought me to be able to worship in song with my friend and servant because in “all my remembrance” of him, I felt joy and I longed to see him again “all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”  And in turn, this “partaker of grace with me,” down in south Texas expressed a longing for our church here in Frisco because she had us in her heart.  And because technology allowed us to share with each other and send word to a former servant in our local church, I believe we experienced authentic community.  It’s an up-to-date version of Paul’s courier Timothy and certainly echo’s the many times Paul expressed his love, longing, joy and confidence in “all the saints in Christ Jesus.”

I was blessed by being able to lead worship with a friend and former servant in our local body.  She was blessed by receiving word of things happening in a place she still had in her heart and longed for “with the affection of Christ Jesus.”  And we were able to share all of these things together with great joy.  Rest assured, a communal experience happened via technology between saints.  Just ask us.  The same happened with Paul’s letters whether it was to ignite change, warn, encourage or praise.

How then can we use even more current trends than email?  What about social media like Facebook and Twitter or a blog or Podcast?  Should we not embrace these technologies and use them to saturate our circles and communities with love and truth instead of acting disinterested or focusing on all of the misuse?  If you can’t have a meal with someone because they live 3 hours away, communicate with them through Facebook by posting pictures or write a blog about you week.  Post prayer requests in your status bar (there are several up right now, even one from our Pastor’s wife) or mention a band in a tweet with a quote from a lyric that has blessed you.  I have received blessings back from some of these bands because they are able to see how their prayers and struggles and joys are affecting others in a way we’ve never been able to communicate before.  Families in our church are using Skype to connect with their grandkids half way across the nation.  Ask them if authentic community can be had with technology.

Does the medium shape the message?  Yes.  Can 140 characters be taken out of context?  Yes.  Just as one verse can be used out of context from a whole passage or book.  Can an inside joke posted on your Wall be construed in a negative way.  Yes.  There are always dangers because man is fallen.  But as I said above, why not saturate the current popular mediums with truths and struggles and joys and stories from your own life and see how it might impact others because community (in person or not) brings us together and is a central part of our journey as Christians.  How are you connecting with others?  How will you begin to broaden your connection with others tomorrow?

Dear Grandma,

As we celebrate you and your life today, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on fond memories I have stored in my heart.  These memories are of times I will always cherish, laugh over, ponder, and share with others in my family and my children.

Forever will I think of windy days out on Lake Hefner where I would pretend to be a super-hero or space cadet or alien invader blasting off into the sky as I climbed up steps as far as I could imagine reaching the top of the rocket-ship slide at the park.  What would a summer trip to the park be without bread?  Who could forget the bread?  The ducks must be fed!  I have vivid snap-shots of being on the shore-line with you, Allison, and Grandpa making sure the ducks didn’t go hungry.

Speaking of bread; I don’t know what other grandkids think of their grandma’s kitchen creations, but I know of all the talents mine has with regard to cooking, I only need one recipe to satisfy my memory of food at the Noack house.  Tuna.  I know of nothing else which makes my stomach fonder when I imagine lunch at grandma’s than a tuna-fish sandwich.  And what goes with a tuna-fish sandwich better than a dill pickle and frosted oatmeal cookies.  Life is good.

I also have memories of trips to buy a toy each summer during our week long stay.  I remember the limit was always $20.  What I remember most about those buying experiences was you always followed mom’s instructions on what I was allowed to buy.  Much to my disappointment, I was never allowed to buy a Transformer toy with my $20 allowance because mom feared I already had too many of them.  I’m sure it was hard on you, my Grandma, not allowing her first Grandson whatever he desired.  And after all these years, I want to make sure you know I never blamed you for my disappointment and hurt feelings. J

I kid in love.  And certainly love is what this day is all about.  Your life, your example, and your legacy are all built on the love you have for your Savior, Jesus Christ, your Lord.  This above all else will I remember and pass on to other generations as I know it is the one thing you would want me to take away from your life and your legacy.

I love you.

Jeffrey

“I will bless the Lord forever, I will trust Him at all times; He has delivered me from all fear, He has set my feet upon a rock….You are my Shield, my Strength, my Portion, Deliverer, My Shelter, Strong Tower, my very present help in time of need.”

Along with prayer for those whose families are being affected, I feel offering this little verse and chorus could help.  At times those who are used to trusting in ourselves to get through (pointing at myself) often need to be reminded there is someone much stronger than ourselves who is in our corner.  Our Champion, if you will.  So there’s my short spill for those affected by anything they fear or see uncertainty in.  Lean on your Champion.

The article above is just one of many reports you can find about an incident Michael Irvin found himself in the other night.  I’m a child of the 80′s and teen of the 90′s.  I was at Mr. Landry’s fairwell celebration the City of Dallas threw him infront of City Hall.  I still have the button they handed out somewhere.  I’ve seen every down of the Irvin, then Aikman, then Emmitt era.  Those are my Cowboys.  Aikman’s my quarterback.  Outside of Barry Sanders, Emmitt’s my running back.  However, one thing that will always be hard on me is making Irvin my receiver.  I still get excited when I see an 88 around town or see highlights, but I’ve never adopted him as my guy at that position. 

I recently finished reading Boys Will Be Boys by Jeff Pearlman.  It’s a look into the 90′s Cowboys.  It’s a look into the dark side of the 90′s Cowboys.  You won’t find this information in the Star-Telegram or Morning News.  A lot of the story outlines come from sources like that but it’s the players themselves talking, in their own words that is so disturbing.  It should be noted, present day Aikman and Emmitt and Jimmy Johnson quotes are not in the book, but there’s enough former players voices to get a good picture of what went on.  After reading the book I’ve realized the only person of character through the whole thing is Aikman.  To party and live like these players lived it’s one a testament to their ability as football players to play like they did on Sundays after such a week or weekend of debauchery.  And it’s also a slam on my own hero perceptions of these players I had of these people growing up and even now.  These were not people to look up to.  What they accomplished on the field was amazing yes and you must compartmentalize that to still keep some shred of admiration for these “heroes.”  But I think this is why I never could latch on to Michael Irvin as my receiver.  I think I always looked at him and could perceive he was not a hero.  This book confirms this as Irvin was the ring leader to almost every sinful thing a Cowboy player could get himself into during their dynasty.

The above article just confirms that years after these events and after Michael’s constant talk about his transformation as a person, etc…bad just follows bad.  He will never be without reason to look over his shoulder or come up with an excuse or explain himself.  That’s tough.  I don’t wish that life on anyone, but the evidence is there in regards to Irvin.  He may never be my reciever but he’ll always be a guy I hope can truely change his situation because so far no matter how hard he tries (or doesn’t) his past chases after him.