Friday, February 25, 2011

I'M STILL A CHEERLEADER!

"My goal for you is to enjoy music for a life time.  When you practice piano, you invest in that future.  I was a cheerleader in college but you know what?  No one asks this grandmother to cheer any more.  So all that practice is wasted."


That little speech to prospective piano students has spewed from me more times than I care to count.  Today it occurred to me that it's not totally true.  I DO still cheer.  It involves no uniform, ballgame or team though.


My phone rang yesterday.  Someone was facing a serious heart operation.  "I'll pray for you," I promised.  And I will.  The phone rang again today.  An old friend wept, telling me her daughter tried to commit suicide.  "There's Hope. . .named Jesus.  Don't give up.  I'll be praying."  And I am. I hung up and cried but also prayed.  Hard.  Within the same 24 hours I talked and hurt with a grieving widow and a young wife considering divorce.


My uniform: a moo moo
The stands: my sofa
My megaphone: a telephone or computer
The game:  life
Cheers: unrehearsed and unexpected
Cheering Coach: the Holy Spirit


But I have to be filled in order to be wrung out.  So my daily quiet time is my pre-game prep and is vital every day because I don't know the plays of the day coming my way.  He does.


Quit sitting in the stands and judging the game. You're light and salt!  Get outta' the shaker and into the soup of life! Sure, invite folks to church but remember you ARE the church!  Cheer the world into Jesus' arms!   
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2CZCF9TnqY&feature=player_embedded



Need inspiration?  Here's a true story you won't soon forget and a REAL coach who gets it!   .


Be of good cheer!
Kathy (former and present cheerleader)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

MEN'S GUIDEBOOK TO UNDERSTANDING WOMEN

With Valentine's Day this week comes my gift-blog to all the men trying to understand women.


Men, the following information is for you.  It's called the Woman's Dictionary.  It has to be factual because it came from the newspaper!  It explains what women really mean when they say:
  • Yes, they mean No.
  • No, they usually mean No.
  • Maybe always equates to No.
  • I'm sorry really means you'll be sorry.
  • We need, means I want.
  • It's your decision, means my correct decision should be obvious by now.
  • Do what you want means, you'll pay for this later.
  • We need to talk means, I need to complain.
  • Sure go ahead, is a dead ringer for I don't want you to.
  • I'm not upset, equals of course I'm upset, you moron.
  • I want new curtains, means I want new carpeting, furniture and wallpaper.
  • The kitchen is so inconvenient, means I want a new house.
  • I heard a noise, means I noticed you were almost asleep.
  • Do you love me? means I'm going to ask for something expensive.
  • How much do you love me? translates into I did something today you're going to hate.
  • I'll be ready in a minute, means kick off your shoes and find a good game on TV.
  • You have to learn to communicate, means just agree with me.
  • Are you listening to me? means it's too late, you're dead. 


If you're a woman reading this and you have a man, or a potential man, in your life, you may want to print this out for him.  They can't read our minds.  So be helpful!





For those who prefer more modern technological help, check this out:

The Manslater:     (Woman Language Translator)











Doug's helpmeet,
Kathy 

Thursday, February 10, 2011

REDNECK CHURCH

OUR church is in no way reflected in this blog.  However, since moving to SC going on 13 years ago, we've learned a lot!


1. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
The finance committee refuses to provide funds for the purchase of a chandelier because none of the members knows how to play one.

2. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
People ask, when they learn that Jesus fed the 5000, whether the two fish were bass or catfish, and what bait was used to catch 'em. 


3. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
When the pastor says, "I'd like to ask Bubba to help take up the offering" and five guys and two women stand up.

4. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
Opening day of deer season is recognized as an official church holiday.


5. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if...
A member of the church requests to be buried in his 4-wheel-drive truck because "It ain't never been in a hole it couldn't get out of!"


6. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
The choir is known as the OK Chorale.


7. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
In a congregation of 500 members, there are only seven last names in the church directory.

8. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
People think "rapture" is what you get when you lift something too heavy.


9. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
The baptismal pool is a #2 galvanized Wheeling washtub.


10. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ....
The choir robes were donated by (and embroidered with the logo from) Billy Bob's Barbecue.


11. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
The collection plates are really hubcaps from a '56 Chevy.

12. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ..
Instead of a bell you are called to service by a duck call.


13. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
The minister and his wife drive matching pickup trucks.

14. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
Baptismal washtubs double as part of your praise band.




15. You Know You're in a Redneck Church if...
"Thou shall not covet" applies to huntin' dogs too.

16. You know You're in a Redneck Church if ...
The final words of the benediction are, "Y'all come back now, Ya hear!"

Friday, February 4, 2011

LOOKING DOWN AS I LOOK UP


Ricky Tippett
My brother, Ricky Tippett, is my guest blogger today.  Our older brother, Bert, died a month ago after a long battle with cancer.  He influenced many and still does from heaven.

*     *     *

Each year I tell the seniors in my worldviews course that real leaders look back or look down as they are seeking to become biblical, godly leaders. I go on to explain how sometimes teenagers seeking to be a leader look ahead or look up in an effort to influence; this is a more difficult path. I remember one young man so bent on fitting in with the class ahead of him that he neglected establishing relationships with those in his own class and he would never think to look back at the students in classes below his.

Not long ago a senior came to me at the end of the school year and said, “By the way, Mr. Tippett, it worked.”

“What worked?” I asked.

“You told us at the beginning of the year to seek to be a leader by looking back at the students in our school that were younger than us. I tried it with a good number of middle school kids and some 10th graders, too, and it worked.” Laughing, he added, “I leave RCA with a small following of friends that I didn’t have a year ago. It’s a cool principle and I’ll remember it as I go on to college this fall.”



Back in 1967 I walked into my brother’s office at Bible College for the first time. There was a sunny warmth to it. He had a second story, corner office and there were a good number of windows on both outside walls, letting in beautiful, natural light. Bert taught me all about the value of natural light because as a high school kid he was teaching me how to take pictures with my first 35mm camera. Bert was always teaching me something it seemed: a love for muscle cars, swimming, reading, and writing. This is what big brothers do for little brothers.

In 1967 I was only a junior in high school, but I remember asking Bert if he liked his corner office. “Oh, yes, I love it.”

“How come?”

“Come here.” I walked over behind his desk to the corner of the two adjoining windows. “Look down there.” I smiled because I knew what he was referring to without another word. Still, he added, “I can work here on publications and at the same time I can look out my window and down on the student lounge building and see all the students. I like getting to know them, especially the freshmen.”

Well, that was my big brother in a single moment of time. He loved people and he would often pick some out, inquire about who they were, and then he would go about trying to connect with them. He had a desire to see them succeed in knowing and doing the will of God.

“I saw you down there the other day,” he added. I had a puzzled look. “Oh, yes. You were down there cutting grass and I looked down and saw you.”

My big brother seemed to spend a great deal of his life looking down on me, but not just me. There are a hundreds of people who came to Bible College to find that Bert had looked down on them so he could look them up later. And they would find their way to his office, plop down in a chair, and pour out their hearts to him. Bert was always a great listener.

I think one of the things my father taught all three of us as children was to look for people who needed help, especially those who seemed to be friendless or maybe lost direction. Lost people, like most men drivers, don’t usually ask for directions. I recall that Dad took in a cousin of his once and gave him a bed and food until he could get back on his feet. Robert was homeless most of his life. He told me once that he lived in the woods in a small tent for a good number of years. His family had pretty much disowned him due to his addictions. He struggled with alcohol his whole life. But Dad helped him get past that and our church gave him a job and soon Sam was truly back on the right road. He loved to work late at night vacuuming hallways and classrooms, singing the hymns of the faith. He told a number of people how he loved the solitude of the church and that it brought him more into a realization of God in his life.

Bert had a heart for people who needed help, too. Rather than seek status by climbing man-made ladders, Bert sought students who seemed to need his help. Every year there was a steady stream of Bible College students, coming by just to talk and share their hearts and their dreams.

Looking down doesn’t mean looking down your nose, but more like Proverbs 24:16 describes:

For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again...

Bert was in the ministry of helping falling people get “up again.”

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite looked down at the Samaritan and passed by on the other side. Dad taught us to stop and help fallen people regain their balance so they could continue the walk God had for them. My goodness, how many people found the upstairs corner room of the administration building a safe place to come and sit and cry and then “rise up again.” An old commercial comes to mind: “HELP! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Bert always stopped what he was doing so he could help his brother or sister get back up.

Years ago George Orwell wrote a dark, foretelling novel entitled 1984, in which the world had come to a place of global totalitarianism. Privacy no longer existed because government cameras were every where, always looking, always listening. Throughout the world citizens constantly read these ominous words: “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!” It was meant to intimidate.

When my big brother was watching, it was more like I think of our Father watching over us.


The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous,
and his ears are open unto their cry.
– Psalm 34:15


Bert went home to be with our Father and father on January 4, 2011. It was a good homecoming as his family will tell you. Gathered around his bed that day, they all said their goodbyes and reaffirmed their love for each other. The Holy Spirit, Karen said, was powerfully present in the room that day. This time, however, they were looking down on Bert—Dianne and his entire family.
Bert asked me a couple of weeks before he died, “Ricky, how come I am still here? What do you think? I’m so ready to go.” We talked between us as close brothers do, but this time it was the baby brother looking down on his big brother. I cried on the phone with Bert and I assured him that the only reason I knew that he was still here was because he still had influence on the life of someone. He said, “Yes, I think that is true. I’m really burdened for Nancy. She needs the Lord. Pray I can help her in these last days. She’s come by several times to check on me.” I stopped and we prayed right then over the phone.

I still picture Bert today looking down from heaven. Perhaps, it is sentimentalism.

But I really don’t think so.

This little brother is still looking up to a big brother who is still looking down on me. Oh, that we would all seek to be such servants of God.