Made Alive

This Sunday we start a new series at Crossroads called THE LIVING DEAD. I'm really excited about it! We'll be talking about ZOMBIES and God's grace, and what it means to be dead in sin, and how God made us ALIVE through faith in Jesus Christ.

Now look, I'm assuming a lot here. My first assumption is...that you have a sense of humor. No, we're not promoting ZOMBIES as a lifestyle or a coming reality you need to be on guard against. Can you say "metaphor"? Go ahead. Let's all say it together. "Me-ta-phor". Good. Now you're ready.

Okay, why ZOMBIES? It's easy. Zombies are dead. Well, not really. Actually, they are UNDEAD. In other words they're not physically dead, just sort of mentally, emotionally and most of all spiritually dead. As a result, they walk around like they're actually alive (eating people's brains...yum!), but in fact, they are not alive. Really, they're not truly dead OR alive. And they're real hard to kill. Worse...they're contagious. They infect other people and turn them into ZOMBIES. Bad, huh?

What's the point? See, at the beginning of Ephesians Chapter 2, the Apostle Paul talks about us once being dead, too. He says we were dead because of our disobedience and many sins. Here's THREE things I know to be true:

1. Before we had faith in Jesus Christ, we WERE dead (spiritually).
2. People who have not trusted Christ, ARE dead (spiritually).

Now, here's the BIG NUMBER THREE: 3. Some people (including ME and YOU, despite our faith in Christ) sometimes ACT like they are STILL dead. Why??? And what do we do about it??? Well, that's what we'll be talking about in October. Want a few highlights?

1. The roll-in for this series is probably the best one Will Lurie has created.
2. We're resurrecting Audio Adrenaline's great song, "Some Kind Of Zombie".
3. I'll be interviewing a ZOMBIE live (dead?) on stage this Sunday.
4. Natalie will share with us 'How to Survive a Zombie Attack'.
5. We'll learn HOW we're MADE ALIVE in CHRIST and what it means to walk in NEWNESS OF LIFE!
6. We'll be BAPTIZING people on Sunday, October 18th!!!

Don't miss a week of this new original series from Crossroads! It's going to be 'ZOMBIE-licious'! Bring a friend, or a ZOMBIE...or a friend's ZOMBIE. Hey, better yet? Bring someone who thinks they DON'T LIKE CHURCH. 'Cause maybe if they don't like church, they still like friendly people, good music, cool visuals, and relevant teaching...or maybe they just like ZOMBIES! Either way, just get them to Crossroads on Sunday and let God work out the rest. See you soon! Oh, and if I were you...I'd keep a baseball bat or a chain saw by the bed. Just sayin'.

One Step At A Time

Just had a great meeting with Gary and Carrie Mitchell, Dave Clark, and Chris Brooks. Dave is working on curriculum for ROADIES 201-401, and Gary and Carrie are working on curriculum for a New Believers/Returners Class. Why is that important?

1. Each day I see folks from Crossroads dig deeper in their relationship with God, each other, and the world around them. That's great!
2. I believe God wants us to establish an environment at Crossroads where EVERYONE has that same opportunity. And that's GREATER!

Many people have taken first steps with God at Crossroads. It is our responsibility to make sure we show them what next steps look like. Though we have been able to do that with many people one on one, we're fast growing to the place where we need the infrastructure to support opportunities for more people. The larger we grow, the more difficult it is for a few people to connect with all the new attenders, new believers, and those returning to God.

So...we have established a protocol for contacting new believers/returners. We have a 'Next Steps' table in our lobby now with a growing collection of free resources for them to take and use. We have people to follow up with those who want to talk about next steps. And beginning Sunday November 15th, we will hold our first monthly NEXT STEPS CLASS at the Annex at 12 noon! We'll serve lunch and spend a couple of hours teaching people the fundamentals of our faith. This teaching is not an end, it is a beginning.

From the NEXT STEPS CLASS it's on to baptism, church membership through ROADIES 101, and continuing discipleship through our ROADIES 201-401 classes. It's so exciting to see these things come together! Look, we're not where we're going to be, but guys, we have come so far from where we started. Like Perry Noble said at The 'Nines', we're not going to start a move of God at Crossroads. God will move as He will move. But we CAN and SHOULD do everything in our power to CREATE CAPACITY and PREPARE for God to move.

And that's what we're doing. One step at a time.

WEEKEND UPDATE - ADDENDUM

Oops. Forgot to mention two really big deals from this weekend and I feel pretty dopey about it. Plus something coming up that I need to mention:

1. Lance Swentesky returned to Crossroads after serving the country in Iraq. WELCOME HOME LANCE!!!!!
2. Another big deal for the Crossroads family this weekend was the recognition of Pastor Ben and Kelly Rice for their awesome, selfless, faithful and important service for the past 18 months in our youth ministry. Ben and Kelly went above and beyond in their dedication to the young people of Crossroads. We took a moment out of the service to honor them and presented them with an etched crystal platter commemorating their time pastoring your children. Many of you actually attend Crossroads now because your kids were impacted by Ben and Kelly's ministry. We love them and appreciate everything they have done, and look forward to their continued leadership at Crossroads in the months and years to come!
3. Starting next Sunday, we're rolling out a brand new original series at Crossroads called THE LIVING DEAD!! Don't miss a week of this exciting new series as we dig into Ephesians 2:1-8, and also share lots of important information with you about ZOMBIES!!! Donuts - coffee - worship - fellowship - God the Father - Jesus the Son - the Holy Spirit and ZOMBIES. Where else are you gonna get stuff like that, huh? See you next Sunday!

WEEKEND UPDATE (092709)

Hey guys, beautiful morning this morning and a great day at Crossroads yesterday! Here's a few things I'm taking away from the day and from the month of September at Crossroads:

1. Really enjoyed Home Improvement and heard from MANY how simple the teaching was, and how they are already applying it in their lives.
2. Several people during the series made first-time decisions to trust Christ or rededicate their lives to Christ!
3. Six more people indicated on Sunday that they want to be baptized, bringing our current number to over a dozen! Baptism Sunday October 18th! Can't wait!
4. Sunday we had a TON of people out sick or out of town but attendance was still very strong!
5. Worship was great! Nic, Janna and the band sounded really good! Loved the Don Henley opener.
6. Teaching on forgiveness is always a privilege. Matthew 18:21-35 is one of my favorite things in the Bible!
7. I totally messed up the podcast by ripping our really cool microphone off my face because it was bugging me. Sorry.
8. I LOVE how so many people at Crossroads are hooked up serving. It seems like every week, I see new people totally getting hold of the vision of Crossroads and digging in to help make it happen!
9. On a personal note: Yesterday was my dog Biskit's 9th birthday. We took him for a lovely walk by the lake in the afternoon. Caitlin bought him a big rawhide bone to celebrate.
10. Yesterday was my Uncle Gene's 81st birthday. I didn't take him for a walk. Caitlin did not buy him a rawhide bone. Uncle Gene is in GREAT condition! I hope I'm as strong as he is when I'm 81. He's like Jack Lalanne...without the unitard.

Love and peace to all! Don't forget to put into practice what we talked about on Sunday: Get rid of all anger...and forgive! You CAN do it. Remember people don't hold grudges...grudges hold people. This week make the decision to forgive. God will give you the courage and the strength you need to make it happen. All you have to do is be willing.

Have a GREAT week!

The Lord's Prayer, Part 4

This is Part 4 in a continuing and sporadically written series of Blog post about the Lord's Prayer in my life. Notwithstanding the fact that Rick Warren has now decided to write a book about the Lord's Prayer - though he probably stole all his best ideas from me (okay...probably not), I shall continue this intermittent series until it is finished.

"Thy Kingdom come..."

We left England in the summer of 1970. I would not return for six more years. My last day of school, my last day of steak and kidney pie and treacle in the dining hall, was the last time I heard the Lord's Prayer for a very long time.

A couple of years later, I walked the aisle at the First Baptist Church of Ozona, Texas. Looking back, I probably did it for all the wrong reasons. It was an emotional response to the fear of going to hell for all eternity (coupled with the desire to gain the attention of certain family members), rather than a response to the great love and compassion of God through Jesus Christ. But I walked. No one said the Lord's Prayer there, but I recognize that tiny but powerful seeds were planted every day at lunch two years before - seeds that would grow over time, bearing fruit years later.

As a kid, "Thy Kingdom come..." could only be some mystical, magical time or event. Perhaps when Christ was born of a virgin in a manger surrounded by shepherds who were "sore afraid" (whatever that was). Or maybe somewhere near the end of the world as we know it, when Christ returns (as they shouted from the pulpit), with things tattooed on his thigh, riding a big white horse, and (if that weren't enough) a sword coming out of his mouth! I couldn't know then that "Thy Kingdom come..." was deeply personal. And on a personal level - for the present time - as much about me coming to faith in Him, as it was about Him coming back on a horse. At any rate, I scarcely gave it thought for another six years.

WEEKEND UPDATE (092009)

Hey guys, another great day at Crossroads this morning doing Part Two of HOME IMPROVEMENT! Love serving and worshipping God together with this wonderful community. Each week believers and seekers alike gather together in a safe place to fellowship with one another, to raise our voices in worship and praise, and to hear the beautiful message of God's overwhelming love for all of us. Along the way we are challenged to raise the level of our personal game, learning to live our lives according to biblical principles and values. What a great life!

This week I asked several people what the first thing that came to their mind was when I asked the question: "What was your favorite thing about Crossroads this morning?" Here's what they said:

1. Will: "Second time attenders!"
2. Natalie: "Worship! I was desperate for some good worship...and GOT it!"
3. Chris: "Tool Time - the application of the message".
4. Jessie: "The cool stage lighting!"
5. Leslie: "How long people stayed in the lobby after service. Love seeing friendships growing."
6. Rebecca: "Original music in praise and worship!"
7. Max: "The music was great and the message was fantastic!"
8. Matt: "We tested the new nursery/pre-school pager system and it worked great!"
9. Hollie: "Getting to smash a raw egg on my husbands head (in children's church), and watching him try to wash it off his head with hand sanitizer."
10. Jacob: "Just being there".
11. Sam: "The stage lights were pretty (Ooooh!)".
12. Howard: "Making connections with new people".
13. Angela: "Tool Time: Unpacking the tool kit (the application part of the message)".
14. Me (I get two things 'cause it's my Blog): ONE: So many new faces at Crossroads. It's GREAT to be growing each week and seeing people GROW in their faith. TWO: Loved the new, unmanned 'Next Steps' table in the lobby equipped with free resources for people to take, like Bibles, Next Steps brochures, and copies of Andy Stanley's 'How Good Is Good Enough'. We gave away eight new Bibles this morning to people that didn't have them! Now that is cool.

Folks, it's a privilege for Leslie and I to serve you and serve God with you. I can't imagine anything better than getting to DO LIFE TOGETHER with the people that God has brought to Crossroads. Love you guys! Have a GREAT week and remember the application from Sunday's service: Before you open your mouth and say that thing you really want to say, give it the 3-Way Test.

Ask yourself:

1. Is it TRUE?

2. Is it NECESSARY?

3. Is it KIND?

If you can't answer "Yes" to ALL three...just don't say it!

Peace!

GRILL DRILLING

Wow. Can I just say how much I don't like having someone drill into my teeth? Even with the novocaine and the laughing gas (which I quit after I could no longer tell the difference between my body and the chair I was sitting in), it still hurt like a...um...well, like someone drilling into your teeth! Not good. Not natural. Seems wrong somehow. My fault, though no doubt about it. Not the first time either. Should have taken better care of my teeth...especially in the back. Anyone ever been through that? Sux, don't it?

But here's the really cool part. My dentist is the genuine article; a Christ-follower who loves people. I mean really loves them. I've seen him twice. Both times we talked about God and how much God loves people. Both times, he told me how good it is to share Christ with others. Both times he was singing when he came to my chair, and he made me feel as though I was the most important part of his day.

I knew something of his life before I met him. He is a man who has suffered unthinkable tragedy in his life. But through it all his faith remains strong. And I see compassion for the suffering of others in his eyes.

It was the best time I ever had while sharp metal objects were stuck into my jaw. Need a great dentist? Call me.

P.S. Not actual photograph of my experience. LOL!

CROSSROADS YOUTH

Went to the GARAGE tonight at the Annex to watch the youth service! Youth ministry has always been a priority at Crossroads. You know, many church plants don't even offer any kind of youth ministry at all until they reach 300 or so attenders. But we have done youth ministry since day one. In fact, we met as a youth group at our home before we ever had our first service for adults!

Shortly after we moved to the Annex, months before we launched at the College Cinema, Pastor Ben and Kelly Rice took responsibility for the young people of Crossroads. Under their faithful and constant care and nurturing, youth ministry at Crossroads has been a vital, growing and effective part of how Crossroads connects people with God, to each other and with the world around them.

So it was an exciting, and emotional moment personally - as I'm sure it was for Ben and Kelly, as Pastor Ben handed the mantle of youth ministry leadership to Pastor Chris Brooks. Chris and his wife Jessie have been a part of Crossroads since the second service we had way back when at our house. Chris has served as a communicator at Crossroads, as well as being a regular drummer in the worship band, and Jessie has spent virtually every Sunday morning working diligently with our nursery/toddler/pre-school-age children. Chris came on as part of our full-time staff at the church a couple of weeks ago, and will assume full-time responsibility for Crossroads youth ministry in a few weeks.

Thank you Pastor Ben and Kelly Rice for everything you have done in youth ministry and for the many ways you continue to serve, heart-deep, in everything that happens at Crossroads. You guys are ROADIES to the core and represent the very best of all of us in the way you conduct your lives, the way you give selflessly, and the way you serve God and other people. It is a privilege to call you friends, and I am honored to serve God and minister alongside both of you.

NEW SET...COOL!

Quick pic of our new set at the College Cinema in case you missed it. If you weren't with us on Sunday, be sure to listen to the podcast of Part One of our new series Home Improvement. Get it here: Home Improvement Week One Podcast. Have a GREAT Monday!!

WEEKEND UPDATE 091309 (Early Edition)

Hey guys, fantastic weekend at Crossroads! I'm here at the Annex as we're setting up for our New Attenders Reception from 4PM to 5:30PM today, and I thought I would take the opportunity to go ahead and share about this morning's service. Here's a few quick takes:

1. Three people (that we know of) came to faith today, making first-time decisions to trust Christ!
2. More than a half-dozen people rededicated their lives to Christ this morning!
3. Everything else pales in comparison.
4. Biggest attendance ever with 285! Wow. God is growing Crossroads exponentially!
5. Great to start our new series Home Improvement!
6. Kudo's to all in our Children's departments. Great job!
7. Got to see blacklight puppets in the Filling Station this morning. Awesome!!
8. The new stage set and lighting we're sensational. The whole thing looked really squared away and totally professional. Big thanks to Will, Randy, Rob, Chris, Sam, Max and everyone else who gave up massive amounts of time to make it all work.
9. Worship was great this morning. The band sounded great, and with our new set and lighting they have never looked better. It really helps people enter in to worship when the stuff they're looking at looks good! Great job!
10. Loved being back on the platform after being off last week. The crowd was huge! They were also alert and engaged and sharing this morning was smooth and easy. Lots of laughs and solid teaching and God gets ALL the credit for it. Awesome service!

After our service was over, Leslie and I drove over to Highpointe to see Pastor Derek and Keli. They did two services this morning for the very first time, and we got there just as their second service was letting out. It is SO COOL to see what God is doing, not just at Crossroads, but also at Highpointe. They are family, and we praise God for all that is happening there.

Guys, God is up to something GOOD in Enterprise. What a privilege it is to be a part of it. What an honor it is to worship and minister with you at Crossroads!! Have a GREAT week!

The Lord's Prayer, Part 3

This is Part 3 in an exceedingly spontaneous series of Blog posts on the importance of the Lord’s Prayer in my life.

“…hallowed be Thy name”

In St. Peter’s dining hall the word ‘hallowed’ wasn’t of the two-syllable variety. It was fully three syllables sounding something like “Hal-oh-wed”. Hal-oh-wed be thy name. What…an unusual name this Father had. I listened to the entire prayer, and since no one at the misfit table spoke to anyone else, and as I had no intention of eating the “for what we are about to receive”, I thought about the prayer. I thought about it a great deal.

I thought about it every day. Monday through Friday. Dining Hall. Table of misfits. A lovely plate of steaming internal organs. And the Lord’s Prayer. And before long I had memorized it. I remember the first time I spoke it in unison with the rest of the fourth grade. I felt as though I had become a part of something. More than just a part of the class, who I could never truly be a part of, somehow I was connected to this God I knew nothing about outside of the Lord prayer. But I was sure that He, the Father, was accurately represented in the context of the prayer.

If we said, “Our Father”, then our Father he must surely be. If we said, “Which art in heaven”, the he must surely be in heaven. If we said, “hallowed be thy name, then his name must surely be…”Hal-oh-wed” (whatever that was). But I had the sense now that it was an important time; a moment of connection with someone larger than all of us. And I found myself each time I spoke the prayer aloud, filled with a sense of quiet and peace; something otherwise missing from the life of a nine-year old “Yank”, displaced in a time of moon landings, Soviet nuclear threat, and the drafting of American teens for the war in Vietnam. What a time to be alive and learning to believe in God.

Healthy, Growing & Full of Love

We're kicking off a new series at Crossroads on Sunday September 13th called Home Improvement. I'm really excited about doing this original series again. We took our first shot at it some 18 months ago while our launch team was still meeting at the Annex. Now, a couple hundred more people will join us as we learn to walk out our faith in the toughest place there is to do it...at home.

If you're anything like me, it's so much easier to follow Christ at work, at play, and certainly at church than it is at home. But did you know this: there are over 2100 references to 'home' in the bible? That's three times more references than there are to work, church, rest or play combined! Why? I think it's because home is the most significant location in our lives. I don't know, but it seems like what we do at home is maybe who we really are, yeah? Seems like if we can learn to do a few things at home the way God designed for us to do them, every thing else will fall into place a little easier.

See, just like the church - the body of Christ - God wants your family and mine to be healthy and growing and full of love. This series is going to focus on how we communicate with each other, how we show love and respect for one another, and how we forgive each others faults. Pretty important stuff, if we want to be strong as a family and growing in love.

No matter what your family looks like, you will benefit from Home Improvement. We'll laugh at ourselves, and clips from the hysterical TV series, and we'll learn from simple but rock-solid biblical principles. Plan now not to miss a week of this important three-part series. See you Sunday!

WEEKEND UPDATE (090609)

Jam up Sunday morning at Crossroads even for a holiday weekend. Tons of people out of town, but an amazingly large crowd gathered together to worship and hear a one-off message from teaching pastor Chris Brooks. Here's a few quick takes from the weekend:

1. Alabama beat Virginia Tech. Woot! Okay, I know that's not about Sunday morning, but it was late Saturday night and it totally rocked!
2. Like I said earlier, I was really surprised at the size of the crowd Sunday. Last year on Labor Day weekend we had the remnants of a hurricane blowing through, but 88 hardy people showed up to worship. This year, same holiday, no hurricane and 208 people came! What a thrill!! God rules and gets all the glory!!!
3. WOW! we had more than 20 first-time attenders on Sunday! Many rededicated their lives to Christ!
4. Temporary changes in the nursery area were great AND effective. Look for a permanent solution to our space issues very soon!
5. Love the atmosphere in our lobby!
6. It was weird showing up at church and not sharing the message. But it is a privilege to have many effective communicators at Crossroads, who have studied long and hard, who are apt to teach, and who are well-received by the Crossroads community!
7. STONES. Great message.
8. Best roll-in ever by Will Lurie.
9. Teaching pastor Chris Brooks did a great job delivering his message.
10. Loved that Chris passed out a rock to everyone in the crowd.
11. Loved the sound as the rocks hit the concrete floor after Chris prayed.
12. Loved the scene he set and the insight he brought to the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Powerful!
13. Many more signed up for small groups. Sign up continues next week.
14. So many people volunteering in so many areas. It is so cool to see people hook up and serve!

Today is labor day, so our offices at the Annex are closed. I'm finishing this blog post and heading to the house to kick back with the family, smoke some briskets and do a little yard work. Peace to all. Have a GREAT week and don't forget our new series HOME IMPROVEMENT starts next Sunday!

The Lord's Prayer - Part 2

This is Part 2 in a continuing and really long, non-contiguous, stream of consciousness series on my life with the Lord's prayer.

"Our Father which art in heaven..."

The words rang out in the now still dining hall. More than a hundred fourth-graders, heads dutifully bowed, spoke in unison new and interesting words I had never heard before. But somehow they were familiar. I paid attention. The words seemed important. Even the practiced cadence, the chorus of children pausing at predetermined points, didn't sound like the rote of multiplication tables, or the Pledge of Allegiance (something I wouldn't hear for eighteen months), but seemed to lend weight to the significance of the event.

"Our Father..."

Clearly, they weren't speaking of their own fathers. Their fathers weren't there. Not a father in sight. My own father was at work. He dropped me off at St. Peter's just a few hours before. No fathers of any description were in the room. It repeated in my head, "Our Father...Our Father...Our Father". Who? Perhaps the large man with the short necktie was a father, but clearly they weren't talking about him. And I remember thinking, "Why are they praying". And as quickly, "Why would you pray to someone who wasn't there". And just as quickly, "What if someone is here? Someone I can't see".

"which art in heaven..."

All right, that clear that up. He's not here. He's in heaven - this...Father. They're talking about God. I've heard of him, though not too much at home. Like Andy Stanley says, "Many of us grow up somehow knowing that God is good and that God is love, but we're not suppose to talk about him at home". He was talking about my house when he said that. We didn't talk about God or sex, and we rarely mentioned politics. But Shakespeare, well that's a different story. We knew him. And we knew his writing intimately - so the language in the lunchroom was not at all foreign to me. At nine, I already knew that Shakespeare was presented at the Globe theatre, that he was from Stratford-on-Avon, and I'd been there. I'd seen Anne Hathaway's cottage. No, not the actress from 'The Devil Wears Prada'. The Anne Hathaway. The one Shakespeare loved. I knew the King's English. This prayer was not a mystery to me. It was spoken in a language I already understood.

Then it hits me, "Our Father, which art in heaven", meant they weren't just talking about Him. They weren't just talking about the Father. They were talking to Him.

This was something altogether different...

Peace. Love. Clutter.

If you've never been in my office at the Annex, you're one lucky hombre. While the outer office that leads to mine is replete with sensible furniture and spartan accoutrement befitting a frugal church plant; crossing the threshold into my office is like stepping into my basement bedroom in 1977 (except I have a really big Mac with dual 21" monitors now, instead of the Craig 8-track/phonograph/stereo receiver combo that used to sit on my door...um desk.

That I don't have three weeks worth of dirty laundry strewn about the floors of my office notwithstanding, the vibe is exactly the same. Instead of Farah Fawcett posters, I have posters of youth series from the past and giant six-month look-ahead dry erase planners. Instead of piles of schoolbooks and loose papers I forgot to turn in to my 11th-grade Western Civilization teacher, I have books by Stanley, Hybels, Rainer; more Bibles than Dove Christian Supply, and notes from countless meetings, seminars, and sermons piled halfway to the ceiling. Instead of Kletter boots, macrame belts and ceramic bongs, I have metal sculpture, brass rubbings and a really cool medieval sword I stole from my 14 year-old. Pretty much everything else is the same.

When Leslie, my wife, first saw how I had decorated my office at the Annex she was mortified. She certainly remembers how my teenage basement bedroom looked in 1977. The flashback must have been jarring to her sensibilities. She lobbied hard for something a bit more...um, adult? Pastor-like? I fought it as long as I could. I now see the error of my ways.

And so it is - with the reality of nearing "the new thirty" and the growth of my responsibilities - that for the next couple of days I shall undertake to make every possible effort to re-adorn my office in such a manner that reflects the maturity of its primary occupant. Out with the 3'x7' door I use for a desk. Out with twenty-two posters and pictures thumb-tacked (or taped) to my wall. Out with the detritus of disorganization that is crammed into every conceivable nook and cranny. And IN with a simple glass-topped, aluminum framed L-shaped desk unit that leaves plenty of room for visitors in modest but respectable chairs. Maybe people will actually visit me in my office now, free from the fear of spontaneous teleportation to a time of head shops, Levi's 501 button-front jeans, and 'Keep on Truckin' t-shirts.

Having said all that, while I am willing to make the leap to semi-respectability, you are all duly warned that (as long as there's i-tunes or 8-track tape players) Kansas, Boston and Chicago may only be geographic references to you - but they are simply magic to me, and will playing...quietly...in the background.

Out.

The Lord's Prayer, Part 1

This will be the first in a series of non-consecutive, non-homiletical, non-hermeneutical, non-exegetical postings on the Lord's Prayer. I'm not doing this because I have something to prove, or, frankly, something to teach. Just something to share. Do with it as you see fit. WIth Weekend Updates and other informational Blog posts, it may take some time to run the whole series. The series is centered on my life with the Lord's prayer. It will be in 13 or...um, 25 parts. This is part one.

I didn't grow up in church. I suppose, as a child, I probably attended a wedding or two that took place at one, but outside of some vague references to "find your own way", by my father - probably fueled by the fact that he grew up Southern Baptist and converted to Episcopalian after earning a Purple Heart in WWII, only to see the Catholic Church excommunicate my mother for marrying him because once before, for a brief time, he had been married, who could blame him for being confused as hell about religion - I knew nothing of church and less of Christ.

At 9 years old we moved for a year and a half to England and I was enrolled in the fourth grade at St. Peters school in Poole (near Bournemouth). The school was a CE school. I didn't know what that meant. They made me wear a coat and tie and shorts (yes, shorts, even in the winter), grey socks and black shoes. I never wore a uniform before for school. My mother thought it was adorable and took several thousand pictures with a Kodak Brownie. I didn't see the attraction. I found out the first day what CE meant. It stood for Church of England. It was a...Christian school.

The first day of school I got in several fights, being the only "Yank" (whatever that meant) my classroom. At recess, I met a decent sort of kid who told me where the 'bog' was. He asked me if I needed to use it. Unsure of what a 'bog' was, I said, "Uh...I think so". A few minutes later I was standing with several other boys in a dank poorly lit room in front of a long porcelain trough. "Ahh...the bog", I thought. Somehow I didn't quite need the bog...yet. Back to class. "I'm sorry, Latin? No, we didn't have Latin at Ben Franklin Elementary in Littleton, Colorado. But I'll try. e pluribus unum. Does that count?" It went downhill from there.

Lunch came. I might as well have been on Pluto (sorry, not a planet, right?) as in the lunch hall, for the territory could not have been more unfamiliar. I followed the crowd to tables of twelve, settling in around a table where, apparently, the poor and wretched of St. Peter's ate silently in their misery. It was the only table with room left. A tall gangly kid with a very long nose, an extraordinarily fat boy (think Augustus Gloop), and a girl in a matted gray cardigan sweater who wore eyeglasses, smelled very strange, and never looked up...and me. We stood for an inordinately long period of time, while old hunched-over women in white aprons and hair nets brought "lunch" and metal water jugs. Lunch looked like something that was savagely ripped from the inside of a cow, and hastily wrapped in dough. The water looked fine. As if on cue a bell was rung, and the the room grew silent from the chatter of more than a hundred grade school kids. A large man in a necktie that stopped a foot and a half short of his belt bellowed, "For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful". And then in chorus, everyone in the lunchroom, except the "Yank", began to chant. And that's the very first time I remember hearing it,

"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..."