The seventeen year old high school senior left each day at 11:00 am on a work permit. His daily destination was the construction site of Grace Assembly of God in south Oklahoma City. At some point in each afternoon’s work itinerary, the local youth pastor would bring the strange greetings of “Hey fathead, how are you doing?”. Believe it or not, it was a welcome greeting. It was also the beginning of a lifetime friendship. I was that student and Keith Elder was the youth pastor.

It was certainly a blessing to be in Hungry Horse, Montana this past Saturday night as Keith and Marlys Elder were honored for twenty nine years of amazing service as District Youth and Education Directors. In my commitment to abbreviate these blog entries, I will not attempt to appropriately list their accomplishments. Simply stated, the Elders are living legends in Assemblies of God youth ministries. Even better, Pam and I consider them to be among our dearest friends. What a gift from God!

The lesson in this for all of us is that we should see every young person as a good opportunity for investment. I will always be grateful for the youth pastor who sowed into the life of this fathead.

Here we go again. It is another chapter of the guys in the office dragging me kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Remember, I’m the one that is still trying to figure out how e-mail saves me time…when it takes so much time to do it.

So how are they doing it this time? As of today, I am a member of the Facebook generation. It’s not like I needed something else to do. However, David Raley said it was a great way to communicate with those that share our vision. Darian Amsler was willing to set it up. James Pauls has been pushing me to at least attempt being cool. These men make up my team. So I guess I should catch up with them if I am going to be their leader. Huh?

It really does make sense that if we are going to reach, teach and release men for Christ, we need to go where they are. One of those places seems to be the internet. So here we go. Web, blogs and now Facebook. That’s what I get for saying “Whatever it takes” thirty five years ago!

Thirty five years is a long time. So why does it seem like just yesterday, I stood before my beautiful bride exchanging vows of love and commitment? As a matter of fact, it was just yesterday that we celebrated thirty five years of marital bliss. For me it has been bliss, perhaps she would have a few other words as well.

Thirty five years ago yesterday, there is no way we could have anticipated where this path would have taken us. Two children, four grandchildren and millions of miles later, I am more in love than three and a half decades ago. While there have been a few bumps along the way, I could not have anticipated a better life. Yet I believe the best is yet to come.

No lady could have been more supportive and patient than my Pamela. While we have travelled this road together, most of the miles have been separated from each other. While I have been willing to go, I am convinced the more difficult was her willingness to stay. The call of God and her commitment to it have required so much. I am sure that she has identified with the single parent and the lonely widow on more than a few occasions.

In spite of it all, she still loves me and we are having the best times of our lives. In a few weeks, we will be off to our two weeks of celebration. I can’t wait! And then on to the rest of this adventure of life together ‘til death do us part’.

Anyone who knows me understands that I am totally committed to missions. It seems that I have spent the vast majority of my ministry life in challenging teens to give to Speed the Light, men to Light for the Lost, and the local church to a passion for missions. It has been my honor to travel several million miles in an attempt to fulfill the Great Commission by sending and equipping missionaries and ministries.

As much as I enjoy missions trips, I am convinced that my calling is that of the sender. In an attempt to fulfill that call, I have told and retold many stories of the faith and faithfulness of students, adults and their gifts to missions. There was Amber in Georgia, Sarah in Montana, Grant in Oklahoma and countless others. But none of these stories compare to the one I heard on Mother’s Day…Clare of Missouri.

I was there the evening that Pastor Don opened his wallet and gave six year old Clare a crisp five dollar bill. As you can imagine, her eyes grew large at the prospects of all that money and the possibilities. However, by the time she got home, the first thing she looked for was her BGMC Buddy Barrel. The next step was to deposit the entire five spot in Buddy’s head. As I heard the story, I informed Clare that the good pastor’s intent was that she spend the money on herself. She quickly corrected me with the words, “But Jesus put it in my head to give it to put it in my barrel.”

I may have endless stories of greater faith and much larger amounts, but none are as good as this one. You see, Clare just happens to be my oldest granddaughter. And it sure is exciting to see the family tradition passed on to the next generation.

Paul is 81 years old and the men’s ministries’ leader at Northland Cathedral in Kansas City, Missouri. And before you dismiss him as another church leader who doesn’t know when to step down, you should know that the pastor of this great work in north KC invited him to serve just a few years ago. 

You should also know that the men that follow his leadership are teenagers to his peers and all points in between. You should further know that when he sent us into the gym to play a ball game between the meal and the service of the recent men’s retreat, he was one of the best athletes on the floor. His team won…and that was with me playing on his team. The best part is that he was obviously respected by all as a wise, spiritual leader.

No one is more committed than I to reaching young men in and through this movement. I am convinced that we must make men’s ministries relevant to the next generation. However, we would be foolish to do so by setting our elders in the background. 

The older Paul mentoring the young Timothy still works!  In this case, he happens to be Paul McGarvey. Yes, the same man formerly known as the National Men’s Ministries Director. Thank you Paul for continuing to lead with passion.

Last week while on the Light for the Lost tour in the Potomac District, I made a new friend. My host and banquet emcee was Johnny Green. Johnny pastors a great church in Jessup, Maryland and serves as the LFTL rep for the northern half of the district at the invitation of District Men’s Director Bobby Basham.

Johnny and I covered more than 1,300 miles and six banquets together in one week. In those few days, you either become great friends or tolerant team members. We became great friends that discovered we had more in common than a last name, even though he spells his incorrectly.

I am not sure I ever met a man that had more distinct chapters in his life story and yet each of them were obviously part God’s great plan. He grew up as part of a large family in Georgia, served in the Air Force for twenty years and has pastored for the past five years. Johnny is a prime example of a man who has experienced diverse careers while remaining in God’s will during each.

One of my favorite Sundays ever was in church with Pastor Johnny, his wife Alice and their amazing congregation. People don’t get any better than this. As we say back home, ‘they about preached me to death’. And the best part… they are my new friends.

It was one hundred one years ago today that my life changed forever. Many years before I was born, he was. I am speaking of my grandfather, the Reverend S.N. Greene. I cannot imagine what my life would have been without his influence.
 
He never pastored a megachurch. He had to subsidize his income through other means. As a matter of fact, you would have considered him old fashioned in the good old days. His convictions and mine didn’t always match. But what a man!
 
The family never argued over the inheritance. As a matter of fact, all he left me was a library filled with old books, grocery sacks of hand and typewritten sermons, a stack of worn out Bibles and a good name of integrity to live up to the rest of my life!  What a man!
 
Happy Birthday, Grandpa. And thank you Jesus for one of the best gifts you ever gave me…101 years ago today.