Sunday, July 23, 2006

Welcome Friend, Meet Blog in a Fog Pastor

Welcome to Blog In A Fog Pastor. I am going to try this anonymously at first, just to see if I can do this. I am a bivocational or "tentmaking" Pastor of a Southern Baptist Church in East Texas not too far from Houston. I am a graduate of East Texas Baptist University in Marshall and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. No, I'm not impressed either. I have been in ministry for twenty something years and have no idea whether I am younger leadership, emergent leadership or just a grumpy old preacher like the ones I used to complain about.

My "other job" is in the financial services industry working for a large corporation. I don't think they are trying to take over the world but I do pray with one eye open at work just in case!

The reason I am starting this blog is that with a family of five (two are teenagers) and two jobs I was finding myself with a little too much time on my hands. Ok, how about everybody else is doing it? (Insert Maxwell Smart voice here.) Would you believe I am trying to vent and improve my writing skills at the same time? (End Maxwell Smart voice, return to East Texas twang.) Ok, the reason is mostly the last one but what Blogger doesn't hope somebody at a publishing house reads their blog and offers them incredible piles of cash to let them publish their yada, yada, bla, blah, blah?

The church I Pastor (six years!) is "High Tech Redneck", meaning that we are in the country but we still found someone to hook up one of those fancy projector thingies and put the hymns and choruses and sometimes the Pastor's sermon notes on a screen that covers the baptistry. We have a wall to wall praise band and praise team with everything from children and youth to Deacons entering their second and sometimes third childhoods. By this do not imply they are childish just fun loving and uncontrollable!

We tell ourselves and anyone who will listen that we are a Spirit led, people driven church that is excited about loving God and reaching people. We say Spirit led because last time I checked the Lord is the head of His church, not yours truly. Besides, would a truly competent person be blogging in a fog? We say people driven because we believe our churches ministry is based on the particular spiritual gifts of the peculiar people God brings into our church.

Don't expect a lot of earthshattering theology in this blog I'm not even sure I can keep it logical, much less "God logical". (Attention wordsmiths, I am aware that's not a proper translation of "theological"; you guys need to chill out a bit!)

One last thing about me. I have recently been diagnosed with a serious health condition that prohibits me from driving, at least for a short period of time. While this does not affect my ability to think or post (I think, Hmmm.) I do plan to use it as a sympathy card and say that you should feel sorry for me and not respond negatively or critically to any of my posts. In other words I only have one feeling so don't hurt it!

Enough about me. My wish for you is that you have a passion for Jesus, a full cup of joy and an eye for the lost around you.

Blog in a Fog Pastor