Song #3 - Happy Birthday, America!

Our national anthem -- never sung better. God BLESS America!

A Grateful Nation Thanks You

To those who made it home ...

... and those who didn't:

THANK YOU.

Rock on, MOM!

There's nobody like a mom ... and no one as special as MY mom, Carleene Jackson! Naturally, I don't tell her that nearly as often as I should, or as she deserves. Need proof? It's 7:16 pm on Mother's Day, and I haven't even called her yet today! Man, I'm toast. I'll try to call her right after this blog.

I don't have enough time or words to give Mom the tribute she deserves. I'll just keep trying to be a son she can be proud of. That is a full-time job! At least I'm a clean-shaven son again -- that makes her happy for sure!

We were sharing mom memories this morning at church. Here's the first thing I thought of: now that I've been a parent myself for more than 30 years, I realize that parents don't know everything after all, and sometimes don't actually know what to do or say about this or that problem or situation -- but my mom never let on. She was a rock. She projected faith and confidence all the time -- whatever inner struggles she might have felt, she acted like she always knew what to do or say and made her kids feel very secure, safe, and certain.

The only other thing I'll mention, among the thousands that could be listed, is this: I knew from my earliest awareness that Mom knew and loved JESUS. He was real to her, and she made Him real to me, too. To know what a Christian was, I only had to look at Mom and Dad. What a great, priceless heritage. Thanks, Mom! Happy Mother's Day.

Fantasy Update #18

NBA: My Kobe Bryant team was terrible, only won 5 or 6 games in the 22-week season. But my Kevin Garnett team was very good, won the division, and had the second-best record (19-5) in the league. Unfortunately, I lost the championship round by 15 points to the best team in the league (21-3).

MLB: I have 1 team with CBS and 2 with Yahoo. I like Yahoo so much better because I can make line-up changes every day. With CBS you lock in a roster for a week at a time. The second week of the season is ending today. I have pretty good rosters, so hopefully some good seasons are in store. Let's dub the teams per best pitchers: good luck to Team Santana, Team Hernandez, and Team Bannister. Play ball!

Anniversaries

The first Sunday in March was my 5th anniversary as pastor of First Baptist Church of Emmet, AR. It has been a great experience being a part of this congregation. What wonderful people! What a privilege to be their pastor! I can only hope that they have received some blessings along the way ... I am SURE I have been more blessed than they. Space (and lack of complete photos) prevents showing them all, but let these be representative of ALL the wonderful people of God at FBC Emmet. I appreciate each and every one.

The last Friday in March was the 39th anniversary of my first date with the wonderful girl who became my wife and the mother of our 4 exceptional children. April 25 will be our 38th wedding anniversary. High school sweethearts, she has always been, truly and literally, my ONE and ONLY. Yes, it can be done! It don't come cheap, but it's worth the price! A'int love grand? Thanks, sweetie!

Ceremonial

Ceremonial

The moon flashes on his finger.
As he mounts,
He shakes the glitter from his robe:
Stars drift down.
And

then,
With graceful gallop,
With the medallion sun softly swinging
In time to roaring hooves,
God is riding horseback.


(c) 2008 J.J. Jackson Jr.

Well, YEAH ... the stuff of real faith

"Take from the church the miraculous, the supernatural, the incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, the absurd, and nothing but a vacuum remains."

The above is the quote randomly loaded today by Quote Database. It's from Robert G. Ingersoll.

My response is, "Well, yeah ... Your point is?"

Ingersoll's point, of course, is to mock Christianity and the church. However, with this quote we see that God spoke truth through a jackass more than once! Ingersoll's motive was wrong, but his words were right.

MY point is that if you have a church without the named ingredients, you certainly do not have the real thing, just an empty shell. Biblical faith is exciting and radical. JESUS does not call us to a safe, reasonable, moderate life; He calls us to the miraculous, the supernatural, the incomprehensible, the unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, the absurd -- a life of FAITH. Most believers, including me, fall too short of this challenge. We should be more daring, and not be ashamed of the supernatural, unreasonable aspect of following Christ. As my friend, evangelist Bill Stafford, says, "Extreme death scares me a lot more than extreme life!"

If you're in a dead church, either raise it from the dead, or get out and find a live one! Life's too short to live in the shell.

"For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ... For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (I Corinthians 1:18-25)