Act like a cat...

When I was a student at UTA (University of Texas Almost), I took a class called "Oral Interpretation." In this class it was expected of all the students to memorize a rear-end-load of literature and eventually recite/perform it back to the class as if we were the author or main character of the piece. 10-15 minutes worth of monologue is A LOT of memorization. My professor told us that if we were to forget our lines, then we should just keep going- act like it's all in the plan. She summed up her advice by saying, "Basically, act like a cat. When a cat runs into a wall, they just keep going and act like they meant to do that."
While I was preaching on Sunday, I took her advice. During my sermon on Sunday, I was reading a James Dobson interview with Ted Bundy (16 hours before Bundy went to the electric chair). I came upon the word "succumb" and mispronounced it horribly. Instead of placing the emphasis on the 2nd syllable to say "suh-kuhm" I placed the emphasis on the first syllable to say "suck-uhm." I immediately knew that I mispronounced it. I decided not to look up and see spouses leaning over and whispering and giggling like little kids. I acted like a cat. I was hoping no one would notice. But I was reminded in my Life Group on Sunday night that my cat-like reflexes were not very good.
I was also reminded that last Sunday I mispronounced another word while I was reading Revelation 12. The word was "scepter" and I read "skepter." I knew that it was wrong when it came out of my mouth, but I kept on going. It was glorious.

While we're at it- if you have heard me say anything else that needs to be exhumed or brought out into the light, leave it here and laugh it up.

Secret Church

I am really pumped about Secret Church this Friday night. In case you're in the dark, here are the details:
Location: Jose & Rosanne Zapata's house- 6901 County Rd 526, Mansfield, 76063
Time: 6:00 pm - midnight
Agenda: Hear from Tony Rizzo (our friend from Gospel for Asia), take the Lord's Supper together, pray for the Persecuted Church, and study the entire New Testament.
If you are planning on attending, please eat before you come and get ready to dig into the Word. If you can, be there a little before 6 because we'll start on time and it's going to be a special time of identifying with the early church, the persecuted church, and of worship together.


Here's a promo video by our friends at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama.

Cain and Ted Bundy and you and me

On Sunday I read part of a manuscript of a Ted Bundy interview conducted by Dr James Dobson 16 hours before Bundy went to the electric chair. I feel like this interview highlights very well the seriousness of sin- the way that sin will work if we think we can manage it and deal with it ourselves (just like Cain in Genesis 4). Bundy tried to manage and deal with his secret sin on his own for a couple of years before it finally pounced on him and devoured him (and over 30 lives were taken as a result).
The moral of this story: Don't think you can deal with your sin on your own. Don't think that you are beyond Bundy. Don't think that you are stronger than Cain.

Here's the interview in case you are interested.