I posted this originally in August of 2013.  Today would have been my grandpa's 91st birthday.  He was a great man and I love him very much.  I will never forget him.

This was my Eulogy for him on behalf of the grandchildren.  There is so much more to him that I adore than just these words.  There is more than I have in my lifetime to say and more than my limited vocabulary can describe.  I just wish others could have walked in our shoes and experienced life with him.  His name is Ruxton O'Shea Williamson, I called him Pops!


My Papaw

I called him Peepaw, Papaw, and Pops.  He was really the only grandpa I ever knew.  He was the best grandpa any of us could had ever had.  He wasn’t one of those grandpas who got on the floor to roll cars around with you or sit a small table and fumble around with a toy tea set.  He didn’t do art or sing in a choir. And he certainly didn’t try his hand at the latest fashion.

He did work hard.  He did provide for his family.  He did laugh a lot. He did fish and hunt and say a curse word every now and then. Ok more now than then.  And He did what was ever necessary to take care of his family.  One of my fondest memories of Papaw was when he would come through Bay City and pick up Wyatt and me and go to Hinton’s grocery and buy each of us an orange Pushup.  Or the time in college whenever I came to visit he would buy me an ice cream or a burger in front of his afternoon coffee buddies, just to prove he wasn’t too cheap.  He would tell us jokes and sayings that aren’t so appropriate for a younger crowd.  And we would always say to us, “Here I sit fat and chunky, ate six cats and swallowed a monkey.”  And we would laugh and laugh.  It’s not easy to put down all the memories in such a short time, so I will sum it up this way.  Here are the things that I knew about Peepaw, Papaw, Pops through the things that he said and did:

1.    Work is important –He worked hard and even when he retired he found new things to keep him working. Like his garden

2.    Recreation is important –He loved to fish and hunt and simply be outside

3.    Laughter is important –I can hardly think of an image of Papaw where he wasn’t laughing or trying to make someone else laugh

4.    Integrity is important –Pops didn’t really worry to much about how people thought of him.  And basically he didn’t have to, because he respected himself and he respected others and he was full of great character

5.    He was Big –He was a big man, not just in size, but in every aspect of his life.  He had a big heart, He had a big laugh, and he was a big leader.  He filled his life with things that made all of his family want to listen, to follow, and to love him

Peepaw, Papaw, Pops.  Your grandkids and your great-grandkids love you with everything they have.  We will never have enough time to thank you and comprehend the influence you have been in our lives.  We will miss you and miss your laughter, your jokes, and your love.  But we are going to be okay.  All of us,  Memaw, Your kids, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren, your brothers and sister, and all the relatives and friends you have left behind, we are going to be okay, because you have showed us a great way and given us so much of you.  And we will see you again.

I hope that you have had great experiences with your grandparents and the ones you love!  Those relationships are a reflection of God and His love for us!

One morning as we were pulling out of our neighborhood the boys caught a glimpse of something that I saw with my eyes, but wasn't taking the time to appreciate...it was the sun rays pushing through the clouds and penetrating the trees around us.  They were perfect beams of light through the haze of the day.  The boys began to imagine what those beams of light meant.  I asked them, "Who made the sun and its beams?"  They responded accordingly, "God!"  After that we began a conversation about those perfect spotlights from heaven being God coming down to earth.  Now, as you know, any good boy will interpret this in their own way.  They then began to imagine and play in the backseat that God was coming after them.  I engaged them in a conversation about what they meant by God coming after them and personally I didn't like the image of God being portrayed.  It was the same playful imaginative style they have when pretending to be ninjas, cowboys, soldiers, wrestlers, or cops and robbers.  The style was that God was the adversary.  God was the opponent.  The boys were having fun and hunching over trying to hide from the angry God coming to get them.  I then said, "How do you know He is coming after you to get you?", "What if God is running to you to love you and embrace you?"  They hadn't really thought about this before.  Their play changed for the next minute or two on our ride to school.  Thinking through imaginatively what it meant for God to want them so much that He was coming through the most beautiful sunbeams to pick them up, hold them, and love on them.  As we approached the school and they were leaving the car I simply said to them, "Don't forget, God is running to you today!"  I hope that they felt that loving presence all day.

It has been 13 years since the wonderful night where I heard these wonderful words.  I had planned a great date for Leah and me.  At this point Leah and I had been dating for almost 2 years.  Leah was a student at ACU and I was working as a youth minister in Houston.  We would end up dating long distance (375 miles one way to be exact) for 3 years and 1 month.  Back to our date.  

I first let Leah know that we were going a little fancy on this particular date.  I was in a suit and Leah was all primped and ready.  We started off at a favorite Italian restaurant of ours, Maggios.  We took some chocolate cake to go (so divine).  We headed to my next plan a local shakespeare production.  Now let me say I love the theater and love culture.  And also let me say that I have sat through Sunday church all my life and some of those Sundays were absolutely dreadful; boring.  However, this production was so terrible that Leah and I fled during the intermission.  It was noticed, since the crowd was small to begin with and I still remember the looks of disdain from the other members of the audience as we scrambled to the car.  I took Leah to a little league baseball field attached to her elementary school she attended as a child.  We went to the pitchers mound, where under the moonlight I declared my deep love and devotion to her, read her a poem, sang her a song, and asked her to marry me.  I was on one knee and put the ring on her finger.  She was looking down, admiring the ring.  She then said, "YES! YES! YES!"  She was jumping up and down and celebrating.  I was getting up off my knee to hug her when my head hit her nose.  Fortunately, it wasn't broken, just a tad bit hurting.  Leah was so excited that she started to run the bases.  We embraced at the ballfield, looked up at the stars, prayed together and then headed to her house to show her parents.  It was a great evening!  I love her more today than I did that night.  My love grows for her every day, every year.  We have been together as a couple for almost 15 years.  We have been married for 11 and a half.  I wouldn't want any other partner in life than Leah.  She is the most dedicated wife, mother, and follower of Jesus.  Anyone who has ever met her, cannot deny that she is an awesome person who brings joy and life to everyone she meets.  Thank you God for Leah!

Last week while I was in Texas the story broke that pastors in Houston were having their sermons and communications regarding a controversial bill, HERO, subpoenaed after petitions were contested or denied by the city of Houston.  

If you really want to know the ins and outs of this matter go here:  Subpoenaed Sermons 
If you want a good, brief take on this controversy, please read my friend, Sean Palmer's blog:  The Palmer Perspective 

I have a few things that I have thought about this as well and instead of a narrative, I'll just give some numbered points that I thought about:

1.  Like Sean, if you want my sermons take them.  However, I'm not a manuscript preacher so I doubt my written sermon will do much good.  You would be better listening to the podcast.  And I would love it, because then it would receive more hits. (that was a joke).

2.  Why would these pastors care about turning over sermons to others?  I get the freedom of speech, thing, but really you already spoke it in public (for some to 10,000 or more) and it is probably online to listen to or watch.  If you are convicted enough to preach it, be convicted enough to willfully hand it over to anyone.

3.  The fact that the government would try to subpoena a religious person's communications is bothersome to me.  I think about that slippery slope and wonder how quickly we could lose our first amendment right.  

4.  However, if we thought there were an Islamic terrorist group planning an attack on our country or have already attacked our country, wouldn't we subpoena their communication.  Are people of Islam (and don't hear me say that everyone connected to Islam is a terrorist) religious?  Shouldn't their freedom of religion be protected as well?  We should be careful when we read the 1st amendment not to superimpose Christianity, where it really says Religious. BIG NOTE:  I do not condone terrorism!  However, I learned in High School government class that if we stand up for freedom of religion we must stand up for all religions.  That is the law of our country.  I am a Christian and I believe in Jesus as the saving, redeeming power that restores all things back to God.

5.  Is this really about freedom of religion or freedom of speech or is this about agendas for or against Homosexuality and equality?

6.  As you go to Chron.com (The Houston Chronicle online Newspaper) you will see a plethora of stories.  Many of these stories tell of people who are suffering all over our world.  Jesus looked into the eyes of Pharisees and chief priests and told stories how God's people who truly follow Him stand up and deliver on behalf of the "least of these".  As Sean says Christians can be privileged people.  The stories that should get us uncomfortable, irate, "up-in-arms" are those where the minorities and marginalized are being neglected, abused, or mistreated.  I don't doubt that these pastors are calling for that kind of action in their churches, but we as Christians should make sure we are careful and balanced in our voice.

7.  Complacency and Persecution tell a story.  And as I read scripture Persecution tells a more beautiful story of dependence upon God and His mighty arm, than our current form of complacency in U.S. churches.  I would imagine Paul the apostle would be talking about the "good ol' days" when Christians were strong and courageous enough to be persecuted as a result of God's call on their life.  Just so you know having my sermons subpoenaed wouldn't be defined as persecution on my part.  Being imprisoned, tortured, or killed for professing my belief and service to God and His Kingdom work would be defined as persecution.  Then again, my sermons are not being subpoenaed.

8.  My sermons are not being subpoenaed:  Am I preaching Jesus enough?  Am I playing it safe?

9.  The tradition that I preach in, Churches of Christ, has not been a tradition that preaches its politics from the pulpit.

10.  Creating a revolution should occur by the way we live the principles and convictions of our faith out loud in a world that needs to know the light of Jesus Christ.  The pulpit should inspire this life, but the real change and revolution occurs when those preaching and those listening gather and combat Satan through faithfully joining God where He is already working in the world.  If you want to subpoena something, forget the sermons, subpoena the actions and hearts of those who heard the gospel of Jesus in those churches, or all churches for that matter.

Just a reminder:  These are my thoughts and not everything I think can be written down in one blog.  People tend to judge and blast someone based on one blog post or thought or sentence in a sermon.  If you disagree, I'm fine with that.  I'm fine with being wrong.  I'm not fine with being judged without someone knowing me for a while and my full character.

It is not atypical for us to listen to worship music in my car as we ride to school.  There are times when I turn it off for important conversations.  My boys are also now singing with the worship songs at church and their Wednesday class at church is discussing worship. Brody came home Wednesday night from class and had written his own worship song.  I'm not sure there was a certain tune, but here are the lyrics:

God is the captain of the pirates
The angels are the pirates
We are the gold
And when we get to heaven, God has found his gold

On our ride to school the next morning, I asked Brody to sing his song.  He was embarrassed even though it was just me, his brother, and him.  So I remembered most of the lyrics and began to sing them.  He chimed in on the lyrics i missed.  I love that he wants to write his own song, but I am even more impressed by the lyrics.  Yes they are a tad "me-centered" but he is 6 years old.  However, even at 6 he understands that God has angels, but what he is really in pursuit of is his people and it is more precious than gold.

On your next car ride, see if your kids have any worship songs they have written or challenge them to write their own psalm or song.  You will be impressed by their theology and you will grow through their connection with God.

This title is a chapter title from the book 11 Indispensable Relationships You Can't Be Without by Leonard Sweet.  We have been using his book in our Wednesday Adult Bible class for our study time.  Last night we covered the idea of needing an encourager and being an encourager.  One of my takeaways from last night was that Sweet speaks of 5 different kinds of Barnabi.  They are Good Samaritan Barnabas, Onesimus-Big Brother Barnabas, Epaphras-Prayer Barnabas, Sarah-humor Barnabas, and Ruth-endurance Barnabas.  Basically these are a range from the always happy person who hugs, shakes hands and never is down to the one who will sit with you during your complete fight of cancer.  Get the book and read about each one, it will be worth it.  What I appreciate about the different types of encouragers is that it means that we can all be encouragers and that we can find encouragement.  We tend to have a picture of what it means to be encouraged and when we don't receive that one particular thing, we believe we aren't being encouraged.  However, there are different ways to be encouraged and with our eyes open to those ways we can find the fruit on the encouragement tree.  

Also, we can look at these different ways and see if where we can grow in how we encourage others.  Life is tough and we can not do it alone.  We need the support and love of others to continue traveling this journey.  I would challenge you to pick up this book and read about all these needed relationships in your life.  And if you do I would love to hear what kind of Barnabas you are to others.  And what kind of Barnabas do you need in your life.  

One of the things that I love most on the car ride to school is listening to my boys tell me some of the Bible stories.  I'll give them a story from the Bible and then let them tell me the story.  So far we have covered Daniel and the Lions Den, Fiery Furnace, and The 12 spies.  It is really humbling to hear them tell these stories in such great detail and with great passion.  They are better preachers than I could ever be.  It is remarkable to hear their sweet voices share what they have learned in the Bible.  I love it when they pause and you can hear them thinking about the story as they try to recall all the details.  These stories that they hear and can tell will be a great foundation to their faith and theology as they grow.  One day they will discover even more details to these stories and  make even deeper applications to their lives.  They will one day use these stories not only to grow their own faith, but to help other in their faith walk.  

Children are not irrelevant.  They are part of the journey now!  And as parents it is our job to invite them to tell God's story and to encourage them to apply those stories to their life now.  They don't have to know what genre it comes from or how certain details shape this or that.  They simply need to know that God pursues them and loves them.  And as we adults listen to children tell the stories of God from the Bible our faith will grow and maybe, just maybe we will become like little children and have our faith renewed.

What stories do your children love to tell?