Radical Reformation Fan

Some Guidelines for this Election Season

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:25:00 +0000

The following are some thoughts I shared in the latest edition of our monthly senior adult newsletter.

Well, just in case you’ve been totally isolated from a television in recent weeks, I thought I’d clue you in that we’re in the midst of an election year. It seems it’s possible lately to watch a lively debate among presidential hopefuls at least a couple of times a week if one is so inclined. And that’s before the GOP has even selected its party’s candidate and the real political fireworks begin. It seems we’re in for a long season of negative attack ads and impassioned rhetoric.

So where does all of this leave us as followers of Christ? At the risk of being shot at by both sides, let me offer a few guidelines and suggestions.

1. Be informed. That doesn’t mean you have to watch every single minute of political coverage, but learn about the candidates and their platforms in order to vote intelligently.

2. Vote your conscience. As much as possible, let your vote reflect support for the individual you feel best embodies sound principles and character.

3. Recognize that there are no perfect people—including (or maybe especially) politicians.

4. Acknowledge that God isn’t the exclusive possession or supporter of either major party. This one may be the trickiest and most difficult, as we tend to assume that God is on our side.

5. Recognize that other sincere Christians can differ with your political persuasion without being heretics or insane. This is a logical corollary of the previous guideline.

6. Leave your penchant for political debate at home when you come to church. We gather to worship the God of all creation—not a political messiah.

7. Pray earnestly for all those elected to serve in the political arena. That’s a biblical command.

Baptists have been in the forefront historically of the fight to ensure separation of church and state, and we do well to remember that as the political fever rises this year. Let’s keep our focus on lifting up the Lord and exalting Him rather than the political party of our choice.

Another Great Conference in Guatemala

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:03:00 +0000

I had the opportunity this past week to travel once again to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala for another round of leadership training conferences with pastors and leaders in that western region of the country. My colleague, Verlyn Bergen, and I each led 2 sessions (with me translating for Verlyn in his two), and then we combined for a question and answer time in the final session. We usually have a lot of dialogue and give and take in these conferences, but this was the first time we deliberately planned into the schedule one entire session for responding to questions and addressing concerns that the leaders raised.

For clarification, we spent a few minutes in the initial session asking them to suggest themes or issues that they wanted us to cover in that final session, so we had at least a few waking hours to think about those concerns before covering them in our final session together.

Altogether, we had 75 pastors and leaders from 27 different churches and missions represented. That's about the same total number of participants as usual, but a larger number of congregations present. As always, the fellowship and camaraderie shared was wonderful. Many of these men and women have attended every conference for the past 6 years or so. It's great as well to see new leaders emerging who are attending these conferences. They are eager learners, hanging on every word and soaking up the content like sponges. Verlyn talked about 8 characteristics of healthy churches and teaching for results, while I led two sessions talking about the missional church--seeking to define it somewhat and describing the practices of missional churches. I borrowed heavily from a great book by Milfred Minatrea entitled Shaped by God's Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches. It's a great resource from Leadership Network that identifies 9 practices of growing missional churches based on research of a number of churches in the U.S.

We returned home on Friday afternoon, fairly exhausted from the travel schedule, but very content with the conference and the opportunity as well to visit the Tabitha Ministry again in Guatemala City that I've spoken of in previous posts. They are having to vacate the building they currently occupy by the end of February, but it looks like they will be able to secure a house just a short distance away to continue the ministry of providing 2 meals and early childhood education to around 90 children. In addition, some 50 women who are mainly the mothers of these youngsters are meeting weekly for Bible study.

All in all, it was another blessed and productive week in Guatemala. I appreciate the prayers of those who lifted us up to the Lord as we went.

Seeking Him

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:10:00 +0000

I really enjoyed and was challenged by an excerpt from Max Lucado's book, One Incredible Savior: Celebrating the Majesty of the Manger, that showed up in my email inbox this morning as a part of his Upwords weekly devotional.

Here's the excerpt from the book that he shared:

God rewards those who seek him. Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus himself.

I read a couple of blogs where fellow Baptists of many different stripes engage in a lot of heated (often without too much light being shed) discussion about doctrinal systems. The age-old Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate is one among many others that frequently generates dozens of passionate responses. It would be surprising and amazing perhaps to see what kind of positive Kingdom impact would be accomplished if just a small percentage of the zeal that's displayed in those debates were channeled instead into pursuing a love relationship with our Savior. Something to think about as the first week of the new year draws to a close.

Fleeting Time

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:22:00 +0000

It scarcely seems possible that another year has come and gone, but here we are in 2012. While each year we live contains the same 365 days (with the exception of leap year), our perception as we age is that each new year passes more quickly than those that preceded it. I once heard a mathematical explanation for that which made sense to me. As a youngster of let’s say 6 years old, the current year represents one-sixth of our lifetime. As a senior adult of 80, that same year represents just one-eightieth of our life. So while the number of days and the time span is identical for each, the year seems to have passed more quickly for the older adult since it’s a smaller fraction of his life.

What should we do with the fleeting years that remain for us here on earth? I like the advice that Moses gives us in Psalm 90:12 where he expresses this prayer to God, “So teach us to number our days that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.” A wise heart is a gift that we can give back to God. We can and should continue to grow in the knowledge of God each new year that He allows us to live. Godly wisdom comes from spending time with God in the Scriptures and allowing Him to speak to us both through the Word and in prayer.

Another verse that comes to mind is Eph. 5:17 that encourages us to redeem the time, because the days are evil. While we cannot literally buy back time that has elapsed, we can utilize the remaining time we have to love God, love people, and make disciples as our church’s mission statement reads. That’s a worthy goal for 2012 for each of us.

Christmas Reflection #8

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:57:00 +0000

This reflection also comes from Brennan Mannings' The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus and the chapter entitled "The Shipwrecked at the Stable."

"But the shipwrecked at the stable tremble in adoration of the Christ child and quake at the inbreaking of God Almighty, because all the Santa Clauses and red-nosed reindeer, fifty-foot trees and thundering church bells put together create less pandemonium than the infant Jesus when, instead of remaining a statute in a crib, He comes alive and delivers us over to the fire that He came to light."

Christmas Reflection #7

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:04:00 +0000

On a recent trip to California to attend a senior adult ministry conference, I had a chance to read Brennan Manning's (author of The Ragamuffin Gospel) book The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus. The final chapter is entitled "The Shipwrecked at the Stable" and contains this paragraph.

"The Bethlehem mystery will ever be a scandal to aspiring disciples who seek a triumphant Savior and a prosperity Gospel. The infant Jesus was born in unimpressive circumstances; no one can say exactly where. His parents were of no social significance whatsoever, and His chosen welcoming committee were all turkeys, losers and dirt-poor shepherds. But in this weakness and poverty the shipwrecked at the stable would come to know the love of God."

I love the expression Manning uses to describe those who gathered to witness and celebrate Jesus' birth--the shipwrecked at the stable. For many whose ships have been dashed upon the rocks and shoals of stormy seas, the promised Messiah waits to bring hope, wholeness, and healing. Love's greatest gift, heaven's stooping to earth to bless us with the birth of God's Son, is a priceless possession offered freely to all who by grace will accept His salvation.

Christmas Reflection #6

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:24:00 +0000

Here's the latest installment of Christmas reflections. This one comes from this month's issue of Joyful Tidings, our senior adult newsletter.

When God chose to announce the birth of His Son in Bethlehem, He didn’t call a press conference or leak the news story to the Jerusalem Tribune. There was no social media network to employ like Facebook or Twitter, so God did the next best thing He could do. He sent a choir of angels to some shepherds who were tending their flocks on the Judean hillsides outside of the city of David. That might seem like an odd choice on His part if the purpose of the announcement was indeed to broadcast the news of the Messiah’s coming. Common sense would dictate that employing some official channel of communication would function better than revealing this momentous event to a class of society looked down upon by the general public. God’s plans rarely coincide with ours though.

As it turns out, God’s choice of the shepherds proved to be fortuitous. These nomadic wanderers would crisscross the Palestinian landscape throughout the year, moving their herds in search of green pastures and fresh water. Undoubtedly for years to come after the night that they paid a visit to a young couple in a Bethlehem stable and observed the young boy lying in a manger, they repeated the story of what they had experienced. The dazzling light from heaven, the angel’s astounding message of good news of great joy for all people, and the angelic choir singing God’s praises must have been topics of conversation with other wandering shepherds each time they camped and sat around a nighttime fire.

I think that’s the best possible explanation for the amazing response of the people to the preaching of John the Baptist when he emerged as the forerunner for Jesus’ public ministry. For almost thirty years the people had heard stories of that night’s miraculous events, and now they were eager to hear the one whose message pointed to the Messiah’s appearing. May we also like the shepherds never tire of telling the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

An Amazing Story

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:05:00 +0000

I'm interrupting my series on Christmas Reflections to highlight something that really touched me today. If you don't regularly read Jon Acuff's Stuff Christians Like, you are missing a real treat. Today's blog post deals with the story of how God used a flute that was included in an Operation Christmas Child shoebox to touch lives in Vietnam. It's definitely worth reading, but you might want to make sure you have a Kleenex nearby as you read it. Here's the link.

Christmas Reflection #5

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:23:00 +0000

This latest installment of Christmas musings and reflections comes from last year's Joyful Tidings.

I was re-reading Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth this week in preparation for Advent and the celebration of Christmas. A verse I had read dozens of times spoke to me in a new way. Matthew 1:19 describes Joseph’s planned response when he learns that Mary is expecting a child. He clearly knows that he isn’t the father, and the law of Moses would have allowed him to have her publicly shamed and stoned to death as an adulterer. He would have assumed of course that the child had been fathered by another man as there was no other logical, human explanation for her pregnancy. The Bible says that because Joseph was a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, he decided to send her away secretly.

That statement prompted me to think about how true righteousness impacts the way we live. Far too often, the pharisaical kind of self-righteousness that so many practice leads to condemnation and harsh judgment of others who fall into sin. Joseph’s righteousness prompted him to exhibit grace toward Mary—not “ungrace,” to borrow a term from Phillip Yancey. Even as heartbroken as he must have been at the thought of her infidelity, his love for Mary prompted Joseph to show grace and protect her from both shame and death. His actions strongly suggest those that his earthly son Jesus would later take when confronted with the woman caught in the act of adultery.

The passage suggests that true righteousness isn’t displayed most clearly by the visible sins that it is willing to denounce, but by the love and grace it shows toward those who stumble and fall. The Christmas message is that God’s love and grace led Him to give His Son for a stumbling and fallen humanity—each and every one of us.

Christmas Reflection #4

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:47:00 +0000

Here's another Christmas reflection from a previous edition of our senior adult newsletter. This one comes from the 2009 Joyful Tidings.

One of my favorite Christmas songs of recent years is an arrangement done by Point of Grace called “Let There be Light.” There’s a verse in it that speaks so powerfully to my heart about the mystery of the incarnation and the glorious truth that God chose to become a man in the person of Jesus Christ. The verse says,

He spoke after centuries of silence
In the midst of a still, starry night.
And Immanuel came down among us
And the Father said, “Let there be light!”

Two or three things jump out at me from this beautiful song. First, God broke His silence of approximately four hundred years since the time of the final Old Testament prophet Malachi when He sent His angels to announce the birth of His Son to some common shepherds tending their flocks on a hillside near Bethlehem. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” Surely the nation of Israel was longing for a fresh word from God after four centuries of silence, and God answered their hearts’ plea with a definitive word by sending them His Son.

Secondly, the word Immanuel is highly instructive. As the angel appeared to Joseph to assure him that Mary hadn’t been unfaithful to him but rather that the baby she carried was a miraculous gift of God, he told Joseph that the baby was to be called Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” The God of the universe invaded planet Earth in the person of Jesus to reveal God to us and to redeem us from our sins.

Finally, the text of the song imaginatively records God the Father saying once again, even as He had at the dawn of creation, “Let there be light!” While perhaps those very words weren’t uttered by the angelic hosts, the message certainly was present. Writing in the prologue to his gospel in John 1:4-5, the beloved apostle penned these words, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” I’m so grateful at this Christmas season as we observe the beautiful decorative lights, that God sent the true Light, His Son, into the world to show us His love.

Christmas Reflection #3

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:52:00 +0000

This reflection is a bit more current than the recent two. It's something I shared with the church family in this week's newsletter.

I suspect that many of you who grew up in Baptist churches share a similar experience of not being introduced to Advent celebrations until in recent years. I don't recall my small hometown church in Texas ever even mentioning the word during our preparation for Christmas. We would typically prepare a Christmas cantata, the children's choir would sing, and we would often go caroling from house to house in our town, but Advent as such was unknown.

I'm grateful that more and more Baptist churches are including Advent in their church calendars as we approach the Christmas season. The emphasis upon waiting for the Lord's coming and celebrating His arrival reminds us anew and afresh of the significance of Jesus' birth and God breaking into history after almost four centuries of silence. With the passing on the last Old Testament prophets, it must have seemed to the Israelites that the heavens had been sealed tightly, for no fresh word was received from God for four hundred years. Surely devout Jews continued to anticipate the coming of the long-promised Messiah, but many generations passed without experiencing the fulfillment of that prophetic promise.

When God did break that silence, it was certainly worth it, for He chose not to merely speak through another prophet but to become a man and live among us. I love how John expresses that truth in John 1:14 when he writes that the eternal Word "tabernacled" among us. For a period of thirty years, God pitched His tent among humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. That's good news worth celebrating and sharing in this season.

Christmas Reflection #2

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:58:00 +0000

This reflection is taken from the December 2006 edition of Joyful Tidings.

As we prepare to celebrate the gift of God’s Son to the world in this Christmas season, my thoughts turn to birthday celebrations. Christmas is the celebration of the greatest gift that we have ever received, but it also marks a very special birthday—the birth of our Savior, when God’s Son assumed human flesh and entered the world in the most humble of circumstances. Rather than in a royal palace with comfortable and luxurious surroundings, God purposed that His Son would be born in a stable, with a feeding trough for animals as His crib. The birth announcement wasn’t proclaimed to the rulers or the wealthy upper classes, but the angels’ song came to some lowly shepherds tending their flocks on the Judean hillsides near Bethlehem. How characteristic of God that the poor should be the first to learn of the Messiah’s birth.

The celebration of Jesus’ birth was also in many ways a subdued affair. The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem to the stable where they found Mary and Joseph and the baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes as the angels had said. They shared with Jesus’ parents about the angels’ appearance and the words that they had heard. Then they returned to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for what they had heard and seen. They brought no gifts to the newborn child and His family, other than their own presence. Perhaps that suggests to us that the greatest gift we can offer to the Lord in this Christmas season is the gift of ourselves to Him. As senior adults, many find themselves with much more time on their hands than at any previous stage of life. That time can be well spent in serving the Lord and in demonstrating God’s love to those around us in many practical ways.

I hope in the coming year to help our senior adults focus even more on service and ministry projects in addition to our wonderful times of fellowship and inspiration. Frederick Buechner writes the following about our vocations, but I believe his words apply to ministry in retirement as well. “The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs you to have done ... The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” May the joy of the Lord be yours in this Christmas season as you serve Him wholeheartedly.

Christmas Reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:46:00 +0000

I thought I might share a few Christmas reflections in the coming days, recycling some articles from previous years that I've written for our church's monthly senior adult newsletter entitled "Joyful Tidings." That seems like a pretty fitting name for Christmas news if we think about the angels' message to the shepherds. I haven't shared these on this blog, so hopefully they will spark some interest. This first piece dates way back to 2005.

I was reading recently in the Word and Way a devotional thought by Rudy Pulido, a pastor in the St. Louis area, about a memorable Christmas when he received a bicycle as a gift. It stirred my memories to a Christmas long ago when I too received my first bicycle, a Schwinn. My family was living on my grandparents’ ranch in South Texas at the time, and the mailbox was located almost three miles away over a dirt road. While my granddad usually drove up to the mailbox each day in his pickup to get the day’s mail, on occasion I would volunteer to ride my bike there and bring the mail back. That was quite an adventure for a second grader.

What was your favorite or most treasured Christmas gift as a child? For many of our senior adults, your childhood years were spent in the Great Depression and undoubtedly gifts were scarce at times. Perhaps your parents wanted to give you what you were most hoping to receive at Christmas, but the funds simply weren’t there to do so.

At this season of the year we celebrate the fact that God gave us the most valuable and costly gift that any of us could ever receive—the gift of eternal life through the entrance of Jesus into this world. God sent His Son, and Jesus willingly came, knowing that it would ultimately cost Him His very life to bring us salvation and forgiveness. In the midst of giving and receiving gifts, let’s remember and say thanks to God for His indescribable gift of love, born in a humble manger.

Senior Adult Ministry Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

I enjoyed the opportunity this past week of spending three days in Anaheim, California at a conference focusing on senior adult ministry. I found it both inspirational and informative. Much of the content focused on the theme of intergenerational ministry, and a related theme was the need to minister through seniors and not merely to them. We heard some eye-opening statistics about the aging population of the U.S. and the challenges and opportunities that this reality affords to our churches. One of the most encouraging things was the passion with which the presenters and the participants spoke of the urgent need to reach senior adults with the gospel--not assuming that this sector of the population has already been adequately evangelized.

I'm still processing and sorting through the stack of notes I took from the plenary sessions and workshops that were offered, but one thing is readily apparent--a once-size fits all approach to ministry with maturing adults simply won't cut it any longer if it ever really did. There's far too much diversity in interests, backgrounds, and experiences in this burgeoning slice of the population as the first baby boomers reach 65 this year for a single model or approach to ministry with them to do the job. I'm meeting tomorrow with some peers in the area to discuss a Planned Aging conference that our 4 churches will be sponsoring next June, and also to talk about some of the nuts and bolts of senior adult ministry. We'll be joined by Frank Fain of The Baptist Home, a recognized authority in this field. It promises to be a great meeting.

Luther's 95 Theses

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:39:00 +0000

While most folks associate October 31^st with the celebration of Halloween, historians remember the day as the occasion on which Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenburg Chapel in 1517, launching the Protestant Reformation. Luther, an Augustinian monk within the Roman Catholic Church, had become disenchanted with the Church’s internal corruption. One practice in particular prompted his revolt—the selling of indulgences. The Catholic Church offered to sell forgiveness for sins for a price—an indulgence. The notion that forgiveness could be purchased prompted Luther to compose the 95 Theses to debate this and other issues with the Catholic hierarchy. It was the study of Romans that proved to be the deciding factor in Luther’s conversion to the gospel. As he read “the just shall live by faith,” Luther discovered that his previous attempts to appease an angry and wrathful God (as he conceived Him) through his own efforts were misguided. He was convinced that one is made right with God through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross and not through any human works. Luther’s break with the Catholic Church and proclamation of the gospel in Germany would be followed by other Protestant reformers—Calvin in France and later Switzerland, Zwingli in Switzerland, John Knox in Scotland, and numerous lesser known Anabaptists who took the additional step of denying the legitimacy of infant baptism and insisting on believers’ baptism. The Anabaptists went beyond Luther in insisting on religious liberty and the separation of church and state, major emphases that their Baptist successors would also champion.

Neat Devotional Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:42:00 +0000

I was blessed this morning by a devotional thought that Brian Abel shared in Passport's 365 daily devotional series. Here's what he wrote in part:

"Hold hands." We felt someone grab our hands to cross the street or form a circle. This instruction from childhood presents a big challenge as we get older. It’s hard to hold hands with someone if we’ve made a fist or insist on pointing fingers. Loving our neighbors requires us to reach out. Long before Facebook encouraged us to “Like” or “Unlike,” God asked us to “Love.” The choice to “Unlove” doesn’t show up anywhere.

That last line really grabbed me when I read it. I read several blogs, many featuring Baptist pastors and laymen as contributors and commenters. One of the things that frequently seems most noticeable by its absent in these discussions is the most basic command that Jesus left with His disciples of loving one another. There are a couple of frequent commentators on these blogs that cause me to wince as soon as I see their name appear, even before reading the contents of their comments. That's because invariably their message is one of hatred and rejection of anyone who fails to interpret the Scripture exactly as they do--the classic example of a fundamentalist mindset. It makes me wonder how they can read the same New Testament I do and overlook or neglect Jesus' repeated emphasis on love and His statement that the world will know that we are His disciples by the way we love one another. When rabid zeal for orthodoxy as one understands it completely blots out any demonstration of Jesus' ethic of love, something is dangerously amiss.

Mom's Eulogy

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 03:36:00 +0000

As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to pass along the eulogy that I shared at Mom's funeral service on Saturday afternoon. It was really a beautiful service. Jason, our eldest, shared some reflections. We sang a couple of favorite hymns together; I shared the eulogy; and Bro. Glenn Ward brought the message from Romans 8. Our youngest son, Jonathan, sang a beautiful arrangement of "Give Me Jesus." As we were wrapping up at the graveside, a few drops of rain began to fall. Shortly thereafter, the rains really began in earnest and it rained all night and was still raining as we drove to DFW airport. I'm sure the folks in Texas were thrilled to get a break in the drought. Here's what I shared about Mom's life. It's rather lengthy, but hopefully it will give some insight into her character.

We gather here this afternoon to celebrate the life of Virginia Snowden and to honor one who lived her life well in the service of God, her family, and others. I’m very grateful to Bro. Glenn for allowing me the privilege of sharing this eulogy about Mom. When Dad passed away in January 2004, his death was so sudden and unexpected and I was still so overwhelmed by the emotion of loss that I didn’t think I could manage to say anything at his funeral without completely losing it emotionally. Glenn was gracious enough to allow me to write some words of tribute to Dad that he read during the service. Mom’s homegoing wasn’t sudden or unexpected, as her health had been declining for quite some time now, so I think with the Lord’s help I’m going to be able to manage to share some thoughts about her life.

Mom was born on April 18, 1929 in Alice, Texas to Oscar L. and Eavie Blankenship White. Alice was the nearest hospital to the farm and ranch that my grandparents owned in the small community of Clegg in Live Oak County. Mom was the middle of three daughters born into the family. All three girls pitched in to help with the chores around the place, including gathering eggs, milking the dairy cow, working in the garden, and even helping round up the cattle on horseback—not an easy feat in the brush and cactus-covered South Texas landscape.

After graduating from high school, Mom attended business school where she acquired additional skills as a bookkeeper. It was about this time that she met my Dad, Robert Snowden, who was working for Southern Pacific Railroad in Beeville, TX. Mom’s younger sister told me the other day that Mom was actually working at FBC Beeville when she met Dad. Love blossomed between them and they were married by Bro. Lunsford, the pastor of the FBC there, who later served as the administrator of the South Texas Children’s Home.

Dad’s work with Southern Pacific took him and Mom to many towns in Texas in their early years of marriage. It was while they were living in Victoria that my older brother Steve and I were born. Later moves with the railroad involved relocating to Brownsville, Halletsville, Yorktown, Wharton, and San Antonio before Dad was assigned to work in Alice in 1959. Our family moved back to the ranch where Mom had been raised, living in a house about 100 yards down a sandy lane from my grandparents’ house.

Mom and Dad would get us up about 6:00 each morning and breakfast would already be prepared and on the table. They would head off to work in Alice as we caught the bus about 7:00 for the hour ride into George West where we attended school. Those years on the ranch are filled with wonderful memories. Our immediate family would gather around the piano that Mom would play as we sang 4-part harmony together on the great old hymns in the Broadman and later the Baptist hymnals. Sunday morning always involved a trip into George West where we attended First Baptist Church. Mom and Dad were both active—singing in choir and serving on various committees. Mom would typically put a pot roast in a big, cast-iron skillet in the oven before we left for church. Over Sunday lunch, we would always jokingly remark that we were having a good meal for a change. The truth is that Mom was a great cook and everything she prepared was delicious and tasty, but the Sunday roast always elicited that humorous back-handed compliment.

Mom worked for a number of different firms in those years in Alice, including the A. Y. McCallum Construction Co. I think he actually did more land-clearing than construction, but we were really grateful that he gave us access back in those years to the best private fishing lake I’ve ever found. Mom would occasionally accompany us on those outings, but often she let the male members of the family go fishing while she enjoyed some antique shopping with friends. Mom loved to go antique shopping. One of her prize purchases was an old pump organ with two pedals you alternately depressed to provide air for the bellows. It also featured numerous knobs you could pull out as stops for the different pitches and voices. Mom would later go to work for Lloyd & Lloyd Attorneys at Law in Alice. Still later, she went to work for the Guaranty Title & Abstract Company, working her way up in the organization until she eventually retired as a vice-president.

As my brother and I got closer to junior high age, Mom and Dad decided to move from the ranch into George West to allow us to participate more fully in sports and after-school activities. Mom had carried around some house plans for many years, and in 1964 she was able to see those plans come to fruition in a new house that was built in the Streibeck addition on the north side of George West. Mom and Dad were really proud of that house. The relocation to George West meant that she and Dad would now have to commute 40 miles rather than 35 each way to work, but it was a sacrifice they gladly made to allow us to stay in a great school system where we had our friends. I don’t know many parents who would have made such a commitment, but I’m so grateful that Mom and Dad were willing to do so.

After I graduated from high school, they did move to Alice to save on the wear and tear on vehicles as well as to cut down on the time spent on the road each day. There they made a new set of friends as they joined the First Baptist Church of Alice. They continued to serve in many capacities, including participating in missions trips to the border as well as assisting a local Hispanic mission congregation. Mom’s involvement in WMU deepened in those years as well. When Dad’s work transferred him once again, this time to Gregory, TX, they decided to continue living in Alice rather than moving again.

A part of that decision was also due to Mom’s desire to help take care of her aging father. After Little Granny (as we called her) died, Granddad needed additional care and he was moved to a care facility in Alice. Mom would stop by before work, at lunch, and in the evening again as well to help him eat and spend time with him. In doing so, she was carrying on a life-long pattern of caring for others. When we lived in San Antonio, she cared for her aging Aunt Cora. When she and Dad moved to Alice, she cared for Granddad’s sister, Aunt Clara, who still lived in her own home but needed someone to check in on her, purchase her groceries, take her to the doctor, etc. Even after Mom moved here to Granbury, she continued to adopt “little old ladies” as she affectionately called them who needed some love and compassion extended to them. The Scripture speaks in James 1 of pure and undefiled religion as caring for orphans and widows in their need, and Mom certainly exemplified that all of her life.

In addition to caring for widows, Mom had a special place in her heart for the fatherless. I mentioned that she and Dad had been married by the administrator of the South Texas Children’s Home, a Baptist agency caring for orphans and those from broken homes. Mom always took a genuine interest in the work of the home, contributing financially for its support, but also opening up our home around the holidays to host a child from the Children’s Home.

After they both retired, Mom and Dad moved here to Granbury and bought a home in DeCordoba Bend Estates. They loved their home and Dad loved going golfing almost daily, but mostly they loved the new friendships they made here at Acton Baptist Church. I cannot say thank you enough to you all for the warm hospitality and Christian love you extended to them as they moved here from South Texas. With more time on their hands in retirement, they both found meaningful places of service and ministry in the life of this great church. Mom was active in choir, WMU, missions projects and trips, and as a money counter on Monday mornings to tally the Sunday offerings. I know that she was excited and counted it a privilege to have a part in the construction of the new sanctuary and the celebration of the church’s 150^th anniversary a few years ago.

Mom fell a little over three years ago and fractured her pelvis. That accident seemed to trigger the onset of her overall decline in health. After a few months in a rehab facility, the family determined that she needed a little extra care and we decided to move her up to live with my family in Lee’s Summit, MO. She joined the FBC there where I serve as associate pastor, but her declining health meant that she wasn’t able to attend but a few times before she basically became homebound. She might have officially transferred her membership, but I can assure you she never lost her love for this wonderful congregation here. Several close friends continued to call her—typically on Sunday afternoons to check up on her and fill her in on how things were going in the life of Acton Baptist Church and among her circle of friends here. I want to thank you all for continuing to reach out to her in Christian love and fellowship, even after she had moved to Missouri.

It meant so much to my family to have Mom with us these past three years. She was as gracious as she had always been throughout her life—never making any demands on others and always demonstrating the same sweet, gentle spirit that she had consistently displayed. Her love for family never waned. She looked forward to Steve’s phone calls each week (often 2-3 times in the course of a week). She relished the visits that Jason and Jen made with the oldest of the three great-grandchildren. Last year, she accompanied me on a visit back here to Texas to see her sisters, to visit Steve, and to meet her latest great-grandchild, little Jonah, who was born on August 14^th of 2010. I’m so grateful as well that she felt up to a trip back to Texas this past summer to see her sisters once more and to visit her church family here on July 3^rd. Mom certainly loved her extended family.

I think I can safely affirm that Mom was the ideal mother. She modeled Christ-like love and concern for others on a daily basis. She obviously loved and respected Dad throughout the almost 54 years they were privileged to share as a couple. I cannot ever recall seeing them even engage in an argument in all the years they were together. They each sought to make Christ the central part of the home, and that was reflected in their relationship with each other and with us as children.

Mom’s death leaves a big void in our household. Annetta Marie and Jonathan and I have been greatly blessed to have had the privilege and joy of sharing life with her in these recent years. Her passing will require a lot of time to process as we grieve and mourn her physical absence from us. But we take great consolation and comfort in knowing that she has been made whole and is enjoying the wonders of heaven today in the presence of her parents and Dad and so many others who have gone on before us. Most of all, we take comfort in knowing that she’s been welcomed into her eternal home by the One whom she loved and lived her life for—her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Virginia Mae White Snowden went home to be with the Lord on October the 2^nd, 2011, at the Kansas City Hospice House. Virginia was preceded in death by her parents and by her husband, Bob, in 2004. She is survived by her two sisters: Joyce McNeill and husband Joe of Bryan, TX; Gwen Norris and husband George of George West, Texas; by her two sons: Steven R. Snowden and wife Charlotte of Granbury, TX; Gary L. Snowden and wife Annetta Marie of Lee’s Summit, MO; by five grandsons: Bryan, Jason and wife Jennifer, Joel and wife April, Joshua, and Jonathan; by four great-grandchildren: Kelsey, Andrew, Nathan, and Jonah; and by numerous nieces and nephews.

A Long Blogging Drought

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 03:12:00 +0000

I haven't been on Blogger for almost a couple of months now. I thought I'd give a quick explanation for my absence. My mother who has lived with us since January 2009 had been experiencing poor health for quite some time. She went into the hospital on September 1st and was there for 11 days. The doctors determined that her digestive system had simply shut down and was no longer functioning. She had been battling digestive problems for many months, but we didn't suspect that her system was shutting down. She was transferred to the Kansas City Hospice House on September 12th and received outstanding, compassionate care from a wonderful staff of nurses and doctors at that facility. I spent the last three weeks there with her, and my wife took a couple of weeks of leave from her teaching to also accompany Mom in her final days. Our youngest son, Jonathan, also spent a great deal of time with her during these days. Mom went home to be with the Lord this past Sunday afternoon in a very peaceful death.

I'm grateful to my church family and the staff for their prayer support, visits, cards, calls, etc., and for permitting me to share this time with my mother. We'll be traveling to Texas this weekend for a Saturday afternoon funeral at the Acton Baptist Church near Granbury. Mom and Dad had been members of that wonderful congregation since their retirement in the early 90s. Dad's funeral was held there in January 2004 and he's buried a stone's throw from the widow of Davy Crockett in the Acton Cemetery. Mom will be laid to rest beside him.

Mom was a remarkable woman, a godly Christian who faithfully served the Lord throughout her life. It will be my privilege to share the eulogy in the service while her former pastor, Bro. Glenn Ward, brings the message. I'm thinking about sharing that eulogy here after the services are completed. I'd love for others to know what an outstanding mother the Lord blessed my brother and me with and what a wonderful person she was.

Reflections from the Global Leadership Summit

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:54:00 +0000

I've been reviewing some of my notes from the GLS that I attended last week and thought I'd share a few of the great one-liners that I heard.

These first three come from Bill Hybels whose church, Willow Creek, organizes the event each year.
“Swing hard or surrender your bat.”
“Churches are in the life transformation business.”
“Don’t go out with a whimper.”

The next comes from Corey Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey who sounds more like an evangelist. I think he attributed the quote to Abraham Lincoln, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

“Everyone is born an individual, but sadly most die as copies.”

The next four all come from a message by Steven Furtick, pastor of the Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C. His text was 2 Kgs. 3:9-20 about Elisha’s meeting with King Jehoshaphat. The context was a desperate need for water for the army and the cattle. Elisha’s word from the Lord was, “Make this valley full of trenches.” Steven’s paraphrase, “If you want to see the land filled with water, dig some ditches.”
His other one-liners that I noted were these:
“Just having good ideas doesn’t make you a visionary but a daydreamer.”
“If the size of your vision isn’t intimidating to you, it’s probably insulting to God.”
Speaking of our tendency to be discouraged as we compare ourselves to others, he said, “We compare our behind the scenes work with others’ highlight reels.”

The final set of these come from Erwin McManus from Mosaic Church in Los Angeles.
“The extraordinary nature that God puts in each person at birth is beaten out of us by life and most die very ordinary.”
“Our churches are full of folks who are filled with dreams that will die in them if we don't liberate them.”
“You at your best are not in the slightest way intimidating to God.”
“We must tell the human story with authenticity.”
“Whoever tells the best story shapes the culture.”

Global Leadership Summit

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:28:00 +0000

I spent a very enjoyable two days at Willow Creek Association's Global Leadership Summit, attending the simulcast of it at Pleasant Valley Baptist in Liberty, MO. It was an interesting line-up of speakers again this year. I really wasn't disappointed by any of the speakers, but felt that a few of them really hit home runs. Steven Furtick did a great job of preaching a message about Elisha's audacious faith. The demeanor and spirit of Mama Maggie Gobran as she shared about her work among the least of these in Cairo's slums was riveting. Patrick Lencioni, a last-minute pinch hitter substituting for Starbucks CEO Schultz who withdrew, was absolutely hilarious but powerful at the same time. I also enjoyed Erwin McManus of Mosaic and his emphasis on getting back to telling the truth and communicating the gospel story in its power and simplicity. Hybels as usual was great as he echoed a similar theme of McManus.

If you've never attending a GLS, I'd encourage you to think about doing so next August. It's an outstanding two-day event bringing together Christian leaders as well as prominent business leaders to address the broad question of improving our leadership skills.

Wedding Vows or Miranda Rights?

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:54:00 +0000

Our church's administrator shares humorous cartoons and stories each week from Christianity Today. This week's was priceless.

Weddding Vows or Miranda's Rights?

I was watching my 5-year-old granddaughter Christy play with her dolls. At one point, she "staged" a wedding, first playing the role of the bride's mother who assigned specific duties, then suddenly becoming the bride with her "teddy bear" groom.

She picked him up and said to the "minister" presiding over the wedding, "Now you can read us our rights." Without missing a beat, Christy became the minister who said, "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say may be held against you, you have the right to have an attorney present. You may kiss the bride."

—Sonja R. Ely, Dallas, Oregon. Christian Reader "Rolling Down the Aisle."

Willow Creek Leadership Summit

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:42:00 +0000

I'm excited about the opportunity of attending on Thursday and Friday of this week the Annual Leadership Summit sponsored by Willow Creek. Last year was my first year to go and I enjoyed it and was challenged by a great deal that I heard regarding leadership. I'll be attending again this year at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty. They do a wonderful job of hosting events like this. Our pastor and our minister of discipleship are also both going this year. Should be an exciting couple of days of worship, inspiration, and information.

A Good Week in Guatemala

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 23:05:00 +0000

I returned on July 15th from a week-long trip to Guatemala with my colleague, Verlyn Bergen. We enjoyed the fellowship and teaching time that we shared with a group of 74 pastors and leaders at a two-day training event in Quetzaltenango. It's the rainy season there now and the rain, coupled with the altitude in the mountains, kept the temperatures quite comfortable. We enjoyed weather in the 60s and 70s before arriving back in the middle of an extended heat warning of several days here in Missouri.

We were able to visit several places where Verlyn is considering bringing one of two missions teams he'll be heading up to Guatemala this coming year. On Thursday, we paid a visit to the Tabitha Ministry near the city dump in Guatemala City. They have managed to enclose what was an open patio on the roof, affording them an additional closed-in space for an expanded number of children for whom they are caring. The ministry currently ministers to about 85 children in this facility.

There is a need for prayer for this ministry as the owner of the building they are occupying wishes to sell it by the end of the year. They must determine whether or not to stay and come up with funds for purchasing the building, or find other suitable accommodations.

Safely Home from Texas

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:05:00 +0000

Enjoyed a week of visiting with family members in Texas. I took my mom to see her two sisters (and their husbands) who live in Bryan and George West. We also visited with my brother and his wife in Granbury and were able to attend Sunday morning worship at Acton Baptist Church where mom still has many good friends. I was able to visit with a couple of cousins on the trip as well, plus we made a quick trip out to the ranch where I lived for 6 years. All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip.

I've got a couple of days to take care of some things at church and around the house before I head out again to Guatemala on Monday. A colleague and I will be leading the latest round of leadership training conferences in Quetzaltenango. It promises to be another great two-day event with the pastors and leaders. This is the fifth year that we've been providing these training events.

Sermon from the 10 Commandments

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Snowden) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 03:48:00 +0000

Our pastor and his family headed to Houston for a few days so I had the opportunity to preach this past Sunday morning. He began a series on the 10 Commandments the week before so I was privileged to share a message based on the second commandment about not worshiping an idol or image of the true God. The actual title was "Don't Settle for Homemade gods." If you have some time and are interested in hearing it, here's the link to the audio file.