I just got a total blast from the past. I have an old blue canvas Bible case that I used to always carry with me. I got it in high school and it had the honor of holding two of my most used Bible’s, my NIV Thompson Chain Reference Bible
Those two Bibles and this case were with me through the end of high school, my time at Manhattan Christian College many different churches. In Wichita, New Life Christian Church, Riverlawn Christian Church, Metro East Baptist Church (where Terri and I were married, which met in pretty nice building on Tantarra Golf Course), and Messiah Baptist Church. In Manhattan, Grace Baptist Church (where we go now and went while we were engaged, I also went there most of the time when single), New Hope Community Church (where we spent most of our time married), and Westview Community Church (which I visited frequently when I was single). In Hutchinson, Grace Bible Church, which is the church Terri’s folks help to create and have been going to since before I knew them.
I decided to clean out this old Bible case while cleaning my office and the treasure trove of notes and bulletins and things has been fascinating to look through. Here are some highlights…
I have all the papers and notes I mad while attending a Christ In Youth (CIY) conference at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri. I have a personal note in here about a storm that blew through while there, which knocked down a tree limb and scared some of the non-Midwesterners in attendance because someone shouted “Tornado!” There was no Tornado and every Midwesterner there knew it. Anyway, I noted that I thought it was significant, but I don’t know what the significance would be. I also note that I had an infatuation with one of the girls on the trip that I made note of, hoping that I would have a chance with her. Glad that never panned out. I was such a hopeless romantic in those days.
I found some notes from a Niel Anderson conference I, unfortunately, attended. If you don’t know who that is, don’t listen to him. If you do know who it is, stop. That’s really all you need to know.
I found an itinerary from a missions trip to Dallas I took in high school with our youth pastor at the time, Kevin Yoakum. That was an interesting trip, though pretty scattered. It was like a missions sampler. We stayed on the campus of Dallas Christian College and then visited a different mission in inner city Dallas. The most memorable for me were a food bank where we parceled out bags with potatoes for a few hours. I learned that I was really good at repetitive tasks. I also remember visiting a mission for prostitutes in a former brothel and touring a part of Dallas where the homes were made out of junk.
I found a flyer that I made for the last Falcon Fellowship of my graduating year. In high school I was part of and helped lead a prayer group and Bible study at our school with Wendy Walker. There was a Campus Crusade (if I recall correctly) ministry that helped us pay for an off campus meal at the ELCA Lutheran church across the street (pretty much the only off campus building within sight of the campus in those days). At this particular event I spoke my first and last sermon. I don’t think it was a particularly good one, but I was barely an toddler in the faith at that point.
I have some programs from Grace Baptist Church from 1998 that made me realize that some things never change. The bulletin format is practically the same now as it was then. The main difference I notice is that the mission then was “To Seek. To Saturate. To Send” and we’ve added “To Serve” to the list since.
Looking through the bulletins, I must have been fairly awful at taking notes during these days. In fact, most of them seem to be notes passed between Terri and myself when we were dating or engaged. And many of those seemed to be concerned with getting food after the service was over and how I was to pay for it.
I found a cryptic set of notes in one bulletin for Grace Bible Church on November 15, 1998 suggesting that that was the day we informed them either that we were getting married or that we were planning to get married in May of 1999.
I found a directory for New Hope Community Church that is a single page, printed on both sides with the entire church membership on it. It included a number of names that I haven’t forgotten, but it was great to be reminded of.
I found the rules for a game my family made up, called The Insult Game. The original incarnation of this game occurred when we lived in Lawrence. We remodeled our basement and had new sheet rock up. My parents told us that we could write on the walls with pencil with impunity because they were going to paint over it. So we did. One of the things we did was The Insult Game, which was invented as we went. You write an insult of your opponent on the wall, i.e., something silly rather than truly degrading. Then the other person can change a word, add a word, or remove a word to reverse the insult.
Lastly, I’ll leave with a poem I wrote while sitting on a bench outside the Campus Center at MCC. I used to write poetry when I was single. I don’t think I have enough angst anymore to write poetry, but here’s what I wrote there—I won’t say it’s very good poetry. ;)
Blessed Innocence
Where has the innocence gone?
The elders have lost its twinkle.
The aged remember, but know it not.
Was its parting so long ago?Where has the innocence gone?
The men have lost its restraint.
They have heard, but care not of it.
Is its destruction so enticing?Where has the innocence gone?
The women have lost its purity.
They have felt, but shaken loose from it.
Is its modesty so lonely?Where has the innocence gone?
The children have lost its hope.
They have nothing and their anger cosnumes.
What price must we pay?When will the innocence return?
Will it come again in revival?
Is this the last fall?
Lord, we long for your cleansing.Please, come soon.
Cheers.
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