Joe McKeever

Good News: The Check is in the Mail (Sort of)

The 2006 hurricane season ends today, November 30. With a whimper, thankfully.

After the record-breaking 2005 season, the one bringing us Wilma, Katrina, Rita, and several of their siblings, we welcomed the peace and quiet of this year. The experts, you might recall, had predicted 2006 would bring us from 13 to 16 named storms (we had 9), with 8 to 10 of these being full-blown hurricanes (we had 5). They--that is, the National Weather Service--had said we should expect 4 to 6 major hurricanes. We had 2.

One forecaster had warned that the probability of a major hurricane hitting somewhere along Katrina-land's Gulf Coast this year was a whopping 47 percent. Wonder what new line of work he is considering.

Now, compare all of that with the predictions of the same government bureau for the year 2005. They called for 11-15 named storms; we had 28. They predicted 6 to 9 hurricanes; we had 15. And they said we should expect from 2 to 4 major hurricanes. We had 7.

Some years ago, after the forecasters badly missed a call on a hurricane--I forget the details--I had the custodian at our Kenner church post this message on the giant sign fronting Williams Boulevard: "My son is a weather forecaster. Pray he will find honest work."

Is it all right if we say the obvious here? They don't have a clue.

Big Job, Little Me, Great God

Tuesday evening, one of our television news programs which conducts an internet poll each week on topics of local interest announced the results of their latest question: "Are you thinking of moving away from this area?" Of the 2,000 people who responded, 60 percent said "Yes" and 40 percent "No."

From time to time, I hear pastors say their key leaders are moving away. One sat in my office earlier this week and said his church was about to lose a number of veteran leaders.

Then, Wednesday morning's Times-Picayune reported a University of New Orleans survey which found that one-third of the population of both Orleans and Jefferson Parishes are considering leaving over the next two years. Professor Susan Howell was surprised at this finding, she says, because the people who were called were the very ones you would expect to stay. The phone survey used land lines, which ruled out cell phones which are the life-lines, so to speak, of residents in FEMA trailers.

How does that line go? "I feel like all the ships are deserting a sinking rat."

There is plenty of good news from our churches, although it seems to be mixed in with less welcome news.

Christmas Meanderings

I was just wondering this morning.

Up in Heaven, is it possible that members of the Heavenly Host are reporting to God that His numbers are down.

"Lord, it's this Earth thing. This war with Satan has been dragging on for thousands of years now, and well, everyone is getting tired."

"Lord, we remember that after the Savior died on Calvary, He announced, 'Mission Accomplished.' But it wasn't accomplished. The enemy was still around and active. If anything, he has done more damage since you announced victory than before. Some are saying you should be embarrassed by that premature announcement."

"This feels like another Viet Nam or Iraq, Lord. If the end is in sight, you're the only one who can see it."

"The Axis of Evil seems as strong as ever. The world, the flesh, and the devil are still putting up strong resistance, Lord. And the insurgency--they're causing major havoc within the ranks of our own people."

Everyone has a Story; Tell Yours

My wife and I were teaching the newlywed Sunday School class at First Baptist Kenner and Christmas was approaching. As with most pastors, I'm a sucker for a great Christmas story, but that year I had ransacked all the collections of Yuletide tales on my shelves and nothing had caught my attention. So I asked the young couples, "Do any of you have a favorite Christmas story?" Carrie and Gaylen Fuller looked at each other and smiled. Carrie said, "Our family has one we call the 'Brown-Bag Christmas.'"

When she finished telling the story, I was hooked. That week, I called an older member of her family for more details and wrote up the account. Since then, it has appeared in several publications. That was three or four years ago. Last week, I started looking for a good story of Christmas, one that hasn't been worked to death by overtelling or that doesn't offend you by its schmaltziness, and remembered the "Brown-Bag Christmas." Yesterday, as I write, I spent an hour trying to find it without success.

I came home at the end of a long day and asked my wife if she had gotten the mail. She said, "Yes, your Pulpit Helps magazine came today." On the kitchen counter lay this monthly preacher's journal which has been a mainstay in my ministry for over 30 years since one of their very first editors, Joe Walker, a seminary class-mate, asked me to submit cartoons. Ever since, they've run my cartoons--and interestingly, no one else's--and frequently, have run my articles. Scanning the "table of contents," I was struck by the line that read, "Page 12 -- The Brown-Bag Christmas." It was my story. Okay, Carrie Dryden Fuller's story.

Here's the story.

For Those Who Like Facts

A few days ago our article, "The Misrepresenting of Billy Graham," was posted on our website. We invited anyone with information on who wrote the spurious account claiming Mr. Graham went into the French Quarter preaching the gospel following his March 12 appearance in the New Orleans Arena, to leave that information in the "comments" section following.

Today, a local pastor told me who wrote the false story. At his request, I'm leaving names out of it. The author of the article is not someone I know, but he appears to be upset that the Graham team did not go into the French Quarter with the gospel, but instead holed up in the New Orleans Arena and invited everyone to "come hear us preach." My pastor friend indicates that he and the author have had similar conversations in which they agreed to disagree on this subject.

My understanding is that the man wrote the article and that he mailed it out to many pastors and churches in the New Orleans area. We would have to ask him what his motives were, and will have to let the Lord be the judge of those motives. That suits me fine; I have enough trouble watching over my own.

I have gone to that article on my website and left an explanation to clear it up. The bad news is that this fake news-release the "concerned soulwinner" wrote is now circulating planet Earth, leaving people with false impressions of what happened in New Orleans. In fact, today, Monday, I received an e-mail from a leader of our Louisiana Baptist Convention asking if I knew whether that article was true or not.

If indeed the author-of-the-article wrote this out of resentment over Christians not heading to the French Quarter for soulwinning ministry--and it would appear to be what he did--I would say he reminds us of some church members we have known over the years who started weekly church visitation and soon became angry at all the other members who were not joining in that ministry. Sometimes, the most critical and mean-spirited person you'll ever meet is a lazy, back-slidden church member who suddenly wakes up and gets busy for the Lord, then turns around and sees a lot of people precisely the way he was a few days ago.

My suggestion to such a church member is to keep working steadily for the Lord for a few years, then you will earn the right to turn around and rebuke the stragglers and urge the believers onward.

I keep thinking, however, of one of the last conversations the disciples had with Jesus. The Lord was telling Simon Peter what he could expect in the future, when Peter pointed out the Apostle John. "Lord, what about him?" he asked. Jesus' answer still works for us today. "What is that to you?" He said. "You follow me." (John 21:21-22)

Would you like some numbers? I have numbers to end all numbers.

The Last Sunday in November

Some of our historic New Orleans restaurants have relocated to the Northshore, around Covington or Slidell, and are drawing in the customers, according to a front page article in Sunday's Times-Picayune. I expect there's a lot of that happening in other cities, too, from Houston to Dallas to Memphis, as New Orleanians decide either not to return or to wait until the city boasts enough residents to support them.

The Steve Kelley editorial cartoon in Sunday's paper shows the Grinch, labeled IRS, taking down the children's stockings from the mantel (marked "Road Home"). The various stockings are labeled "G-R-A-N-T-S."

Still no letters to the editor about the Joshua and Delores Thompson fiasco, although columnist Jarvis DeBerry gives it his attention. He has no new information, but repeats the Associated Press story of this couple bilking the Memphis church out of the new house then reselling it, but he clothes the account in a biblical story. The Matthew 25 account of the tenants investing the talent entrusted to them and the one servant burying his is seen as a parable for this saga. The scared servant, the one who feared his master's wrath and buried his talent, is described by the master as wicked, lazy, and worthless. DeBerry says, "Similar adjectives might be used to describe Delores and Joshua Thompson...."

He continues, "There will always be those Delores Thompsons whose attitudes validate Mark Twain's rather pithy distinction of the species: 'If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you.' Twain wrote, 'This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.'"

DeBerry ends with a message to the Thompsons: "Verily I say unto them, God don't like ugly. While burying one's talents is lazy and wicked, even that's better than selfishly taking those talents earmarked for the truly needy."

My Mom on the Nauvoo, Alabama, farm read the same story in the Birmingham News, so apparently the sad tale of these shameful New Orleanians is everywhere.

News from the Home Front

The IRS is now announcing that local homeowners who receive grants from the LRA--those checks amounting to as much as $150,000--may have to pay taxes on it, particularly if they showed losses on their 2005 income taxes. The 2006 grants are meant to off-set those losses, therefore, this new money would be taxable. Our senators are quietly saying that in all the rush for legislation to assist Katrina victims, they overlooked this possibility.

Saturday's Times-Picayune announced that the agency handling these large grants for the state fully intend to meet the governor's goal of 10,000 residents receiving their checks by the end of this month. Some 80,000-plus have filed applications for the money, and nearly 9,000 have been approved. To date, however, only 44 people have received their money.

The snag in the process, we are told, has been the insurance companies. As the oversight agency considers a home-owner's application, it deducts all insurance settlements that have been received. Problem is, the insurance companies have had no incentive whatever to come forth with information on how much money they paid to our citizens. Some have insisted, "That's private stuff." I have no idea how the agency is getting around this, particularly as the governor applies the screws.

Here and there throughout the metro area where new houses are going up, you see mounds of dirt--many truckloads--hauled in, dumped, and leveled off. A new home is going up across my back street in River Ridge, and even though we live on the highest ground around and have never had flooding, it looks like 20 loads of dirt have been unloaded. Now, Jefferson Parish is restricting the use of "fill dirt" under houses in certain areas. Recently, in Old Metairie--the oldest section of our parish and probably the highest-priced--neighbors watched as recent heavy rains washed dirt from under newly built homes into the streets and adjoining yards. Christie Perdigao, chair of the Old Metairie Commission says, "In addition to impeding drainingage, filling entire lots with new layers of dirt kills trees and creates an uneven landscape damaging to neighborhood aesthetics."

Last week, the Jefferson Parish Council passed a motion which stops filling whole lots with dirt and calls for planners to study other ways of rebuilding neighborhoods.

In Friday's Times-Picayune every letter to the editor was about St. Frances Cabrini Church, whether it should be demolished to make way for Holy Cross School or whether it is an architectural treasure. A few quotes....

Stuffing on Thanksgiving Day

I knew the National Association of Realtors held their convention in our city last week, and that it was 30,000 strong--the biggest yet since Katrina--but until this morning, Thursday, had not heard how things had gone.

What makes this particularly relevant to Southern Baptists is that last June at our annual meeting in Greensboro, NC, David Crosby made a motion that the SBC hold its 2008 convention in New Orleans, and several leaders pooh-poohed the idea. "New Orleans won't be ready for us by then," one said to me. No amount of argument and reasoning from our corner did anything to dislodge that notion.

The realtors had second thoughts about coming here early on, and especially as the dates drew near. The shooting of five people in a French Quarter bar didn't help. Convention-goers read in the papers about the National Guard patroling the streets. This did not sound like a place they wanted to attend.

The president of the Pennsylvania Realtors said, "The press outside your area is unbelievable," painting a negative picture of a city in deep crisis. My own take on this is that we are in a crisis but not the kind that affects visitors who fly into the city, taxi downtown, stay in the hotels, and eat in the restaurants. Our crisis has more to do with the devastated residential areas and our stymied political leaders. By the way, the National Guard is here to patrol those flooded, sparsely settled sections of the city, freeing up the police for patrols where people live and work.

The realtors were smart and sent some members of their team in early as "mystery shoppers," staying in downtown hotels and eating in the restaurants and walking the streets to see what conventioneers could expect. Then they put out the word that New Orleans is open for business--that the water is safe to drink, airlines are working to add more flights, top hotels are open, plenty of restaurants are running, and the downtown streets are safe.

I said the realtors were smart. Some of them came to town back in June and worked as volunteers when the American Library Association met, in order to see how the city was able to accommodate those 18,000 visitors. Then, in order to deal with the still-low number of airline flights in and out of Armstrong International every day, they urged incoming delegates to spread their arrivals over several days. Many came in early or stayed late and helped Habitat build houses or assisted in the cleanup of City Park. Are these people something or what?

Before We Give Thanks

We need to apologize to a church in Memphis.

Members of the Deliverance Temple Church of God in Christ bought a $75,000 house in Memphis for a New Orleans couple displaced by Katrina. The couple--Joshua and Delores Thompson--never even moved into the house, but sold it and pocketed $88,000, then returned to New Orleans. Got a problem with that? "Take it up with God," Joshua Thompson told a TV reporter who confronted him.

We are outraged and I expect the people of Memphis are, too. There is a time for anger and this is it.

According to Wednesday's Times-Picayune, the couple came to Memphis literally begging for a new home. The church had decided it would do something special for a Katrina-displaced family, in addition to its other ministries to evacuees. They established a committee which interviewed a number of applicants, and chose the Thompsons. According to Delores, they were in great need. She had lost her job as a nurse and Joshua lost his in the import-export business. Their home and possessions had been destroyed, and their two children--a 14 year old girl and a 16 year old son--were eager to get back in school. They would be so honored to resettle in Memphis.

They took possession of the house in February and sold it in September.

Questions have arisen as to whether the Thompsons were truthful. Property transfer records for the resale of the Memphis house list Delores as unmarried; papers from the original sale show her as married. She claimed they were living in a FEMA-provided apartment in Memphis, but no one ever saw it. The realtor--a member of the Deliverance Temple church--says, "She didn't want me coming over there. She'd say, 'I'll meet you.'" No one has verified the past history of this family, whether they actually held jobs in this city or for that matter, whether they owned a house down here and if so, if it was destroyed.

I'll tell you this. People like this did not start taking advantage of others only after a hurricane. Check into it and you will find that such calloused people have a long record of this kind of shenanigans. The Memphis church says it has not discussed legal action, but I hope the District Attorney there will get involved. Fraud is a crime whether the church initiates a lawsuit or not.

On the subject of their selling that house at an instant profit....

Misrepresenting Billy Graham

Last Monday, Wanda Murfin sent a note from Silverhill, Alabama, asking, "Did this happen? I read about the revival in New Orleans with Billy and Franklin Graham, but somehow I must have missed this."

She forwarded an internet article showing photos of Billy Graham and a French Quarter scene. The reporter purports to tell what happened on Sunday evening March 12 of this year at the end of Mr. Graham's sermon in the New Orleans Arena. It's fascinating and would be wonderful if it had happened. But it didn't. No way. None of it.

Here's what the phantom writer--whoever he or she may be--says took place that night. "Graham invited the packed house of evangelical Christians and the hundreds of new converts to join him on the one mile walk from the arena to New Orleans' infamous Bourbon Street."

The mysterious writer quotes Mr. Graham, "I last preached in the City of New Orleans in 1954 and I felt then that there was some unfinished business. Tonight, in what very well might be my last evangelistic service, I aim to finish that business and lead as many of you that would follow me to the multitude of lost souls that fill Bourbon Street tonight.... That is where we shall see the harvest!"

The writer says the stadium erupted in cheers that lasted several minutes, then Graham boarded a scooter and joined Franklin and headed for the French Quarter. The capacity crowd followed in a 20 minute trek while singing "When the Saints Go Marching In."

According to the article, Christians outnumbered sinners up and down Bourbon Street and soon the raunchy music which normally emanates from the bars was silent, as people began to pray and weep. Veteran police officers say they've never seen anything like it. After two hours of this, Mr. Graham departed, leaving behind hundreds of believers witnessing on the streets. "New Orleans will never be the same."

Alas, it didn't happen. None of it. Oh that it would. I have read this bogus article to several people who were present for Mr. Graham's service at the New Orleans Arena and halfway through, they're shaking their heads saying, "That didn't happen." I invite skeptics to go back to my blog from March 12, 2006, and read of Mr. Graham's visit. I took notes on everything he said and sat down at the computer that very evening and recorded it all here. (NOTE: I just checked and the date on my blog-article is March 13, which is a Monday. But I wrote it Sunday night.)

So, where did this come from? And why was it written as factual, like a genuine newspaper account? I haven't the slightest.

Who Won the War?

Last Thursday afternoon, as CBS-TV's resident curmudgeon Andy Rooney sat on the panel at the World War II Conference, someone in the audience asked him why so many veterans who returned from the war were reluctant to talk about it, while he and others write entire books about their experiences. "I'll tell you why most of them don't talk about it," he said. "They didn't do anything worth talking about. They served in the 10th Shoe Repair Batallion." He explained that only about 10 percent of the members of the armed services actually shot at the enemy or were themselves shot at.

Now, I realize he said it that way to make his point, and being a journalist/humorist, he doesn't mind offending you a little in the process. But it was offensive.

The members of the "Shoe Repair Batallion," as he put it, are the soldiers and sailors who fed and clothed the men on the front lines, who served as medics and truck-drivers and communications people and mechanics. In other words, you couldn't have won the war without them.

There's a good point from early in the life of the future king David that works here. David and his six hundred men (perhaps not unlike Robin Hood and his merry men, outlaws and living on the lam) were chasing some bad guys who had raided their camp and taken everything they owned as well as their people. Day and night they traveled. Finally, some of David's men were exhausted, so he allowed them to stay behind and guard the baggage which allowed the others to travel lighter and faster. A day or so later, David and his victorious four hundred return. They've recaptured all their people, made short work of the enemies, and taken all their treasures. That's when a dispute arose.

The four hundred who had actually faced the enemy insisted that the two hundred who had stayed behind would not share in the bounty. "Give them their people back and their possessions which were stolen, but nothing more," they protested. David held up his hand. "You must not do this, my brethren, with what the Lord has given us." Then he instituted a principle which has come down through the centuries as the ultimate in fairness.

"As his share who goes down to battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike." (I Samuel 30:24)

First John 2:23 - Who Taught Us To Call God 'Father'?

Who Taught Us To Call God 'Father'?

When I was a freshman at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, in the late 1950's, our chaplain was a lovely cherubic gentleman who looked a lot like Winston Churchill. Dr. Gresham was a superb speaker and was admired by everyone. Now, I was 18 years old and 3 years away from the call into the ministry, but I remember like it was yesterday something he said about "God the Father."

"Occasionally, I hear people say, 'I believe in God the Father but I do not believe in Jesus Christ.' I always ask them, 'Who taught you to call God 'Father'?' Because it was Jesus. You can search the writings of antiquity and you will not find anywhere the teachings that God is our Father. The Old Testament has a couple of places where the Jews referred to Him as the Father of Israel, but no individual ever looked up toward Heaven and addressed Him as 'Father.' It was Jesus who gave us this privilege."

You will recall that when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He said, "When you pray, say, 'Father....'" That was new. Now, I've not done the research but I've heard that the Koran has over 90 names for God, but not one of them is Father.

(NOTE: The reason I attribute this to Dr. Gresham instead of just proclaiming it myself is simply that I have not delved into all the historical writings in various cultures on God, and have no way of knowing whether what he said is true or not. I want to believe it; it sounds right. Our history professor, Mae Parrish, said she had never caught Dr. Gresham in a historical inaccuracy, and she was not particularly favorably inclined toward preachers.)

First John 4:10 - Love, Love, Love--Is Christianity So Sentimental?

Love, Love, Love--Is Christianity So Sentimental?

Back in 1968, Joe McGinnis worked on the Richard Nixon campaign for president. Later, he wrote a book on what he observed, calling it "The Selling of the President 1968," a takeoff on the Theodore White books "The Making of the President 1960," 1964, etc. McGinnis said they packaged and sold Nixon like he was a brand of cigarettes. And he told one little story I've been telling ever since.

The campaign's advertising agency prepared a one minute television commercial depicting Nixon's views on the Vietnam war. They took a series of black and white photos from the way and lined them up, then had the camera pan down them. What you saw on the TV screen was all these photos going by, and you heard Nixon's voice telling what he would do about the war if he were elected. The final photo showed an American soldier in full battle gear and wearing a helmet with the word "LOVE" scrawled across the front.

Now, remember that this was in the days of the hippie movement, free love, etc. As soon as the commercial began airing on TV, the campaign headquarters started receiving irate phone calls from Nixon supporters. "Get that hippie off that ad," one said. Another said, "That is no word for a soldier to wear on his helmet when he's going into battle to kill or be killed." Well, when you're running for president, you don't want to offend needlessly, so the Nixon people told the ad agency to pull the commercial and change the last photograph.

The agency was reluctant to make the change. Their people had thought what an interesting young man that soldier must be to go into battle wearing the word "LOVE" on his helmet. But they complied and put a picture of a soldier with a generic helmet on the ad.

The upshot was a few days later, the Nixon people received a letter from that soldier's mother. She said, "It was so nice of you to use my son's photo. He's on the other side of the world and I worry about him. It made my day to see his picture on the television screen." The letter was signed, "Mrs. William C. Love."

Can't a fellow even wear his name on his helmet?

I use that story to illustrate how the wonderful concept of love has fallen onto hard times. It's used in a thousand ways and many of them bad. Perfect love, the ideal, what God intended in the first place is what I John is all about.

First John 3:1 - We Shall Be Like Him

We Shall Be Like Him

The British poet Francis Thompson--forever enshrined in the hearts of Christians for his "The Hound of Heaven"--was in France and ran into an old friend. He called her name across a crowded sidewalk and she came over. "Shhhh," she said. "Don't call me by my name. I'm traveling in embryo."

Thompson laughed and said, "I think you mean you're traveling in cognito. In embryo means you're not born yet!"

Reading I John 3:1-2, Christians see how both of those Latin terms apply to us. "In cognito" means "unknown," and John says "the world does not know us." "In embryo" means "unborn," and he adds, "it has not yet appeared what we shall be."

Reasons to Pray This Sunday Night

Sunday morning, little First Baptist Church of St. Rose, Louisiana, about 5 minutes west of the New Orleans airport, honored its longtime pastor Rev. W. O. Cottingham and his incredible wife Alpha. They birthed that church in 1959 and led it until the middle of 2005, when they retired for health reasons. Former members, friends, and family drove in from long distances to be there to honor them. W. O.'s cousin and full-time music evangelist Ronnie Cottingham of Mississippi led the worship and sang, and I preached the morning message. The sermon from Hebrews 6:10 was a new one for me, but I think I was more blessed than anyone there. (Ask any preacher. You know when you have one from the Lord!) We printed the outline here a day or two ago.

As the director of missions, I have an unofficial membership in each Southern Baptist church in metro New Orleans, and so try to use that advantage to say something to the churches which almost no one else can. I reminded this congregation that it's hard for a church to change gears after nearly half a century of the same pastor, and to follow a new leader. "And yet, Larry Pittman is your pastor. He will not do things the way Brother Cottingham did. The question is whether you will let him be himself and lead out."

In similar situations to this, I frequently tell a church that when I left the First Baptist Church of Kenner in 2004, after 14 years, I was replaced by a 27-year-old pastor, Tony Merida, who had never pastored before. I let that sink in, then add, "In a church business meeting to discuss him, someone said, 'He doesn't have any experience.' Someone else said, 'Well, he's about to get some!'" Then I tell them, "And he's wonderful. He's my pastor."

Pray for this church and Pastor Pittman.

Over at Gloria's House

(This is an article from the Times-Picayune, written by Christine Bordelon. The two women in the story are connected by us. Gloria Twiggs is a longtime member of my church, FBC Kenner, and Karen Adams and we have e-mailed back and forth about her group's ministry in New Orleans. It ran in Sunday's paper.)

When Gloria Tiggs suffered a broken heel and fractured scapula after she fell off scaffolding while floating drywall in her Hurricane Katrina-damaged home, the future of her home repairs was in doubt.

As luck would have it, Twiggs, 61, a telephone switchboard operator at the Kenner Police Department, had come in contact with Karen Adams, a former New Orleans resident now living in Pennsylvania, and helped her organize a shipment of donations (paper products, bedding, towels, cleaning supplies, etc.) that were distributed from First Baptist Church in Kenner in February.

Adams and Twiggs remained in contact and when Adams realized Twiggs, too, was in need--her home had a foot of water inside and five feet of mold when she returned--she put her on the list of homes to repair on a special, nine-day 'Christmas' mission recently completed.

With 50 volunteers in tow from various churches in Pennsylvania, the mission group left in its wake a restored church, gutted and repaired homes in Metairie, Kenner, and eastern New Orleans and happy children in St. Bernard. For Twiggs, volunteers completed plumbing and roofing work and more at her Kenner home.

"It has been an unbelievable blessing," Twiggs said. "Just to see them work, they were just wonderful. Everything I asked them, they did. I am just humbled by their kindness and generosity."

Many of the Pennsylvania volunteers--ranging in age from 14 to 83--were regulars on mission trips, but this one struck a special chord with several.

Notes on the World War II Conference, or "How to Run a Meeting"

Saturday, my assignment at the National World War II Museum was to be a monitor in a section known as the Contemporary Arts Center. I showed up at 2 pm for my 2:30 start, not having done this before and wanting to be briefed by whoever had the position prior to my shift. I signed in, got my badge, and worked my way through the massive crowds to the CAC. "Stand here and open the door for people," said Walt, my supervisor. Okay. I can do this. An hour later, he moved me into the CAC to check people's badges or bracelets to make sure they were in the correct place. That's where I stayed the rest of the afternoon, monitoring two sessions with several veterans on each panel.

The first panel discussion involved three fighter pilots in the War and was scheduled to go from 2:45 until 4:00 pm. Here's what happened. The first pilot was fascinating but spoke in short sentences and brief paragraphs. Ten minutes into the program and he's through. Then the second one spoke. Different story. He was a good storyteller and had a terrific story to tell, one that went on and on. He had become an Ace in the war, shooting down 5 enemy planes. As he moved his story from scene to scene, I glanced at the moderator, a professor I suppose, standing at the podium and charged with moving the discussion along and keeping it on schedule. At 4 o'clock--the announced time for this session to end--the Ace is just getting wound up. On and on he went. At 4:15 pm, some people are getting up and leaving and a few are arriving for the next session. At 4:20 pm, the museum people turned the lights on full, hoping he would get the point, I guess. He finally did and everyone clapped. Meanwhile, pilot number 3 had sat there silently the entire time. He had come all this way--from wherever he came--and the second speaker had used all his time. As the crowd applauded, he held his hand up and the emcee quietened everyone. The pilot spoke two sentences--I didn't get what he said--and that was that.

Museum people standing near me in the rear could not believe what was happening. "We instruct our moderators how to lead these meetings," one said. Another said, "Someone is supposed to be down front holding up signs saying 'five minutes' and 'one minute.'"

Now, the crowd loved the fighter ace and they had sat on the edge of their seats, drinking in his stories. Problem was he completely shut out the third guy. Was it thoughtlessness or selfishness or old age or what? Perhaps it was a failure to properly brief the speakers. I don't know.

"I can assure you that moderator will never be asked to emcee another panel here," someone behind me said.

What to Do When You're Hungry

(I found this in a pile of papers. It's something I wrote a while ago. You might have a use for it.)

This morning I awakened early, got dressed, and went for a walk in the neighborhood. This is an excellent time to pray and think about Sunday's sermon. When I returned home, I began feeling weak, so I awakened my wife and said, "Honey, I'm hungry. What should I do?"

She answered, "Take a bath."

I did. But no sooner had I stepped out of the shower than the hunger pains returned. So I said, "I'm still hungry."

"Try getting some clothes on," she suggested. I said, "That's a good idea." But it did not help. There I stood, fully dressed, and very hungry.

This time Margaret said, "Well, put on a sweater. Maybe you don't have on enough clothes." I did, but it didn't help. I was hungry enough to eat a bear.

"Try reading something," she said. So I found my Bible and read three chapters. Then I read this morning's newspaper. Still, I was famished.

"What else can you suggest?" I said. We seemed to be running out of ideas.

Whatever It Takes

Friday was "Grandparents Day" at the school, so Margaret and I showed up at 10 am and spent the next couple of hours visiting with children and teachers, having our pictures made with these 3 little McKeever geniuses, listening to their handbell choirs, and checking out their classrooms. The kids have made arrangement for Grandpa to come back some day and draw sketches of the children in all three classrooms. (Hey, it's what I do.) Twelve-year-old Grant remarked, "One of the teachers lives in our neighborhood. She said she has driven down our street and seen the elderly man pushing us on the green swing under our tree."

Elderly man. Thanks a lot. Let's see now...what were we saying in the previous blog about ageism?

Thursday afternoon, I spent three hours at the World War II Museum attending the international conference on that war. The main auditorium was crowded as expected for Andy Rooney's appearance. I've read the book on his wartime experiences as a reporter for the Stars and Stripes, but hearing his stories in person was special. "I had the best seat in the War," he said. "I could travel anywhere with few restrictions, and talk to anybody. It sounds terrible to say since so many millions were killed in the Second World War, but it was the most exhilarating time of my life."

A number of personalities scheduled to appear did not make it for health reasons. "Murrow Boy" Richard C. Hottelet, former Senator (and bomber pilot) George McGovern, and Enola Gay pilot General Paul Tibbetts were among the no-shows. I browsed the building, talked to a few authors, and bought some World War II postcards. "These are authentic," the seller said. "A whole cache of them were found. Never used. The cartoons on the front were drawn by a fifteen-year-old kid." A dollar each; I bought ten.

Standing in the rear of the auditorium, it was almost as much fun watching the crowd as listening to the panel of veterans and authorities. Several octogenarians were decked out in their original uniforms, and yes, they still fit. My wife is willing to bet the uniforms are new, but I disagree. In one conference room, a woman appearing to be in her late 80s was lovely in her Army WAC uniform, addressing perhaps 15 or 20 listeners. The unfortunate lady was competing with Andy Rooney.

In some of the sessions they were taking questions from the audience. What was funny about that is the old gentlemen who went to the microphones did not care a hoot about the opinions of the experts on the stage. They wanted to tell their stories. "Let me share a couple of my experiences with you," they would begin. I looked around to see if the audience was growing fidgety and impatient, but no one was. In fact, when they finished, the crowd would erupt into applause, including the panel members.

In the Middle of a Miracle

Several of our churches are going through major and exciting changes this week.

Woodmere Baptist Church of Harvey is no more. As of this Sunday, Christ Baptist Church - Harvey comes into existence, meeting at 3000 Manhattan Boulevard. Their previous building in the Woodmere section of this New Orleans suburb now belongs to New Covenant Baptist Church. Meanwhile, this Sunday, Faith Baptist Church will be voting to acquire its first piece of property in its 7 year history.

Christ Baptist is pastored by Dr. Harold Mosley, professor at our seminary and recently pastor of Airline Baptist of Metairie. They'll be doing lots of renovations to their new site which was formerly the House of Prayer Lutheran Church. Jerry Hamby is Associate Pastor and Bob Darcey is the interim Minister of Music. They're without pews, so Sunday they'll bring in the folding chairs for Sunday School at 9 am and worship at 10 am and 6 pm. We wish them well.

New Covenant is pastored by their founding shepherd, Thomas "Chip" Glover. He reported to our Wednesday pastors meeting that the church voted this week to purchase cots, sheets, toiletries, etc., in order to house volunteers coming to help rebuild the city and witness in the community. Thomas went into detail explaining the circumstances of their being able to acquire this church site, and rather than try to remember it all here, I plan to ask him to write it out and we'll post it on this site. It's a fascinating story of the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Here's a hint: the property was appraised for $885,000 and they bought it for $325,000.

Faith Baptist Church was formed several years ago when the First Baptist Church of New Orleans voted to relocate from its St. Charles Avenue location. The charter members of Faith felt the Uptown section of the city needed to have a continued witness, so they formed a church and made arrangements to share the facility of First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans on South Claiborne Street. To date, they still have not called a permanent pastor, but have been led by various interims. Professor (and former missionary) Tim Searcy is their present interim pastor. When Hurricane Katrina damaged the Presbyterian sanctuary, Faith moved to St. Charles Avenue and began renting space from Rayne Memorial United Methodist Church, where they continue to meet at 12:30 pm. Katrina sliced Faith's numbers exactly down the middle, leaving them running 40 to 50 on Sunday mornings.

This Sunday they are voting on purchasing a plant formerly used by a Christian Science congregation. In the absence of Dr. Searcy--who is on a trip to the Holy Land with his son--they've asked me to preside at the Sunday afternoon business meeting.

I'll be preaching Sunday morning at First Baptist Church of St. Rose as this congregation honors its one and only pastor from 1959 to 2005--Rev. W. O. Cottingham--in his retirement. This service had to be postponed due to last year's hurricane.

In the Wednesday meeting, Cherry Blackwell promoted the Christmas Banquet for all our ministers and spouses, to be held on Tuesday evening, December 12, at 6:30 pm at the Ormond Plantation on River Road in Destrehan, a few miles west of Kenner. Child care will be provided at the First Baptist Church of Kenner from 6 pm on. (FBC Kenner is located at 1400 Williams Boulevard, with the educational building in the block behind the sanctuary.) Jim Chester who is an illusionist, story-teller, and preacher will be the evening entertainment. (Please note that "ministers and spouses" means all pastors and other church staff members, male and female.)

Report from Lake Charles

I said to Pastor Steve James of Trinity Baptist Church, "Lake Charles is such a lovely little town. I wish the state convention was a couple of days longer to give me time to explore it." He smiled, "You could do that in one day and have time left." Quaint shops, cute cafes, historic streets--I do love lovely little picturesque towns.

Looking back over Monday and Tuesday, I'm amazed at all the activities I packed into the 24 hours in Lake Charles, and that's without attending all the convention sessions. (Many years ago, as a young pastor, I felt duty-bound to not miss a convention report or a sermon. Over the years, you adjust to the reality of other meetings you need to attend, people you need to see, and your diminishing stamina.) I met with people who are helping to rebuild New Orleans, with the other directors of missions from across the state, with various friends and colleagues, and still had time to hear a number of reports and sermons from Tommy Middleton (Woodlawn Baptist Church, Baton Rouge) and our own Fred Luter (Franklin Avenue Baptist Church).

For my money, there were two highlights of this two day convention. Monday night, Dr. Joe Aguillard of Louisiana College--our only Baptist institution of higher learning in the state--gave a great report on the health of LC, and was accompanied by the college chorale. Then the football team came out, and several players addressed the convention. What we heard knocked everyone off their feet.

"Our guys pray together," one of the players said. "This year we've had 70 young men pray to receive Christ." Applause. "We do a lot of community missions, too." Pictures thrown on the screen showed them in nursing homes. Impressive.

"We were speaking in one church and someone asked me, 'How often does your team pray?' I guess he was trying to be funny because they all laughed. He did not know we had prayed 3 times coming up there that day, and sometimes during practice we'll pray 8 times."

Cartoons for the Epistles of John

Cartoons from the First, Second, and Third Epistles of John are now available in the Image Gallery.

Flags of Our Fathers and Mothers

Several weeks ago an enterprising graduate student in finances e-mailed me from some university in this hemisphere--that's as definite as my memory can get--to ask if she could bring down a busload of her classmates to assist residents of New Orleans in handling/investing/managing all the money they've gotten from the government. I said, "What money?"

She said, "We hear everyone is getting 150 thousand dollars for their flooded homes." I said, "No one has received a dime of it. It's still clogged up in a government pipeline somewhere."

That money is beginning to flow, at least in a trickle. The Louisiana Recovery Authority has hired people to receive applications from homeowners, and by all reports, the process is lengthy and laborious. People have been complaining that they're being asked to reproduce all the applications for any kind of assistance they've received earlier, to document everything about their homes, and to produce papers most of which were ruined in the Katrina floodwaters that swallowed 200,000 homes. A few days ago, a fed up Governor Kathleen Blanco announced that the LRA's slow pace would not get it. At that point, only a hundred or so people had received their money.

The governor said, "I want 10 thousand people to get their checks before December 1." Well, they heard her and hired another hundred workers and decided it was all right for applicants to handle everything by telephone (not everyone has the internet, to their surprise), and they now announce they're on track to reach the 10 thousand number by the end of this month.

Footnote: this does not mean everyone is getting up 150 thousand dollars. It's "up to" that amount. But you have to deduct your insurance checks and a few other things. Even so, we're thankful.

Twice this week, I received e-mails asking when the cartoons on the Winter Bible Study would be ready. I've been turning out a series of cartoons on whichever book of the Bible Southern Baptists focus on each January, for many years. Some of those are available at www.joemckeever. Click on "cartoons" on the right side of the page and have fun.

Wednesday and Back to Business

Today was our second Wednesday pastors' meeting at the New Orleans Chinese Baptist Church in Kenner. Pastor Hong Fu Liu welcomed us and told how they're getting ready to baptize 7 new members on the first Sunday of December. During the Billy/Franklin Graham Crusade in March, they had 21 people to receive Christ. Fourteen have already been baptized.

Before Katrina, this wonderful church--which is celebrating its 25th anniversary; it was a mission from Memorial Baptist in Metairie--had two morning worship services. Now they have only one, having lost some 40 percent of their members since the hurricane. Their facilities were built ten years ago and are still lovely, although Hong Fu says that's because the insurance paid off well and they've repainted and reroofed. He paid tribute to the Southern Baptist Convention which helped them purchase the lovely lot on which their church stands.

The Arkansas working out of Gentilly Baptist Church sponsored a block party on the church grounds last Saturday. They had anticipated 150, but 400 people showed up. They had one profession of faith. Sunday, 174 people attended the worship service, half of them being volunteers from out of state.

Debra and Rachel from Victory Church came to share with the pastors about the Convoy of Hope scheduled for Saturday, November 18, on both the East Bank and the West Bank of New Orleans. They will be giving away free school supplies, 5,000 Bibles, food (including 250 turkeys), gift cards to Lowe's for $10 to the first one thousand people, discounts for prescriptions, and such. The East Bank (downtown New Orleans) location is 1501 St. Louis Street (corner of Basin Street and St. Louis, next to Louis Armstrong Park).

More than 35,000 pound of free groceries will be given to local residents. They're also planning health screenings, job fairs, free haircuts--if they can find some barbers willing to work on Saturdays for nothing--and plenty of games and children's activities.

Second-Guessing: An Art I Specialize In

Harry Truman was often asked if he regretted dropping the A-bomb on Japan. "I refuse to waste time second-guessing myself," he would reply. "Under the circumstances, I did the best I knew, and if I had it to do over, I'd do the same thing again."

That's one of the many differences between Harry and me. I mean, in addition to the fact that I'm alive and he's not.

I sometimes beat myself up over something I did and wish I hadn't. Or did not do and wish I had.

Case in point. I spent this past week at a lovely church in another state. They called the emphasis a "Global Focus Celebration." The people were wonderful and the hosts where I stayed were the best. The dozen or twenty missionaries who gathered for the event were as fine as they come. But what I was doing there hounded me from the beginning to the end.

The invitation to this annual event came from a longtime friend who served that church as interim pastor recently. "Invite Joe," he suggested, and they did. I accepted it thinking it was a World Mission Conference, which we now call "On Mission Celebration." The idea of that is to bring a large group of missionaries to your area and have them speak in churches all over the county, a different speaker in each church each night. But the Global Focus was one church, many missionaries, several days of meetings.

I set up a display in the fellowship hall so people could see my photos of Katrina-impacted churches of the New Orleans area, and stood there Wednesday afternoon while members came by to talk. I streamed photos on my laptop in case they wanted to see where these churches stood now. We had missionary fellowships, breakfasts together, breakfasts with the staff, a cookout in the home of our hosts, a senior adult luncheon at which one of the missionaries spoke, a church-wide missions banquet where I spoke, and we joined with the church members in fanning out over the city Saturday morning and afternoon to do ministry. Saturday night, we each attended a dinner with our sponsoring Sunday School class and each of us spoke to the members. Sunday morning we attended the two worship services and spoke in the Sunday School classes.

It may be just because I'm still new to being a missionary. After pastoring for 42 years, I came to the director of missions position only in May of 2004. Evidently, DOMs and others attend these Global Focus events and On Mission Celebrations a lot. But this was my first. I had a lot of stuff to take with me, so I drove up and back. Over 1600 miles round trip. The drive was wonderful, the scenery spectacular (I caught the Ozarks in the peak of its fall colors), and all that. Nothing negative at all. Absolutely nothing.

Except, I was just wondering what I was doing there.

The World's Greatest Church Library Conference

I billed it that way because it was! Held Friday and Saturday, November 3 and 4, at First Baptist-Marrero, across the river from New Orleans, this conference pulled together 30 volunteers from Louisiana and five other states. Leader Hope Ferguson e-mailed us her report on Wednesday. Following are the highlights.

Thirty-two churches from this area participated. Most were Anglo churches, 1 was Haitian, and 3 were Spanish. Twenty-seven of the churches are either starting or restarting their church libraries. Three schools participated.

Ninety-five individuals registered for the classes, including eleven pastors.

Get this: churches and businesses and individuals which contributed money or books or library supplies or some of all came from 17 states.

58 attended the class: Administration for beginning libraries.
21 attended: Classification and Cataloging for beginners.
29 went through the class on processing, circulation, and selection.
12 for Children and the Church Library.
14 Planning Promotion.
17 Reading Club Extravaganza
6 Space and Furnishings for Church Libraries
15 Collecting and promoting church history
5 Preserving Church History
6 Writing Church History

Baskets of blessings (information, gifts, promotional items, library supplies) were given to all 32 churches. Nearly 4,000 books were given to these new church libraries, with an average of 150 given to each one.

Observations on the Rebirth of This City

"I see lots of evidence that New Orleans is coming back," said Terry Raines. This Virginia Baptist leader was addressing our annual associational meeting on Monday, October 30, along with other leaders from across the country. Terry has been here several times and says he can see signs of significant progress.

I thought of that today--Wednesday, October 8--while driving through various sections of town. On West Esplanade in Kenner, a huge low-income apartment complex is now an open plowed field, the result of demolition which was made necessary by the hurricane damage. The boarded up complex--occupying at least six full blocks--had been an eyesore for the last year.

Down other streets, new homes are going up, some of them costing huge amounts of money. On Elysian Fields Avenue, our connector between Lake Pontchartrain and Interstate 610, dead trees are spray-painted and marked for the chain saws. In all, there must be 500 such trees, at least a dozen per block, trees that were poisoned and choked to death by Katrina's floodwaters. At Robert E. Lee Boulevard and Canal Boulevard, the strip mall is up and running. Signs of progress abound.

Plenty of the other kinds of signs, too--untouched homes, potholes, dead trees, weeds up to the rooftops, FEMA trailers, vacant lots, boarded up stores. But we're learning to look past all that and enjoy the positive signs.

Youth on Mission is a 16-year-old organization, the brainchild of Harry Fowler, which involves teenagers in mission projects from one end of this country to the other. Harry has been to New Orleans on several occasions and, with assistant Bob Adams, has put hundreds of youngsters to work in rebuilding our city. The new brochure from YOM announces projects for 2007 in Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and New Orleans. In fact, the front of the lovely brochure shows the youth working at our Baptist Crossroads in the Ninth Ward. You can't miss all those colorful houses. Thank you, Harry, and YOM. Check out their website at www.yom.org.

Meanwhile, the young people of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Jasper, Alabama--just up the road from my home--are not plugging into someone else's program; they're creating their own. "Impact New Orleans," they call their June 9-16, 2007, project. Their full-color leaflet which arrived in our office today shows the same colorful Habitat houses as the Youth on Mission brochure. (I'd give a dollar to know how many groups worked on these 40 houses. The other day I met some Junior League ladies from Toronto hammering and sweating!) Minister of Students Shawn Doss left New Orleans this summer with a burning desire to create a low cost/high impact mission experience for his Jasper kids. They're partnering with Operation NOAH Rebuild and our association. The brochure says the group will be staying at Oak Park Baptist Church, and they're doing the entire week for $150 per student. Shawn invites his people to check out Oak Park's website: www.oakparkvision.com.

Readers who want to pursue such a trip for their group are invited to go to www.joemckeever.com and click on the house on the right side of the page, with the title, "If you are coming to help us." You should find everything you need to know there, but if you still have questions, email us at joe@joemckeever.com.

Wednesday's Pastor's Meeting

Dr. Joe is travelling this week, so Lynn Gehrmann has provided the minutes from today's weekly pastor's meeting, held at the New Orleans Chinese Baptist Church.

BAGNO held the weekly meeting with association pastors at New Orleans Chinese Baptist Church at 10:00 am. Freddie opened the meeting with some pastors sharing a blessing that happened during the past week.

Thomas Glover (New Covenant) -- They closed on the Woodmere property yesterday. The fall festival on October 31st was a big success. One hundred people attended. Thirty plus prospects and seven professions of faith.

Ann Corbin (Global) -- They have received a financial blessing.

Oscar Williams (Good News) -- At a eulogy on October 27th, there were eleven people who gave their life to Christ.

James 'Boogie' Melerine (Delacroix Hope) -- Last Wednesday night, October 25th, there were seven people at their prayer worship. Three of them, Catholic, had been attending worship services at Delacroix Hope. Boogie shared that some people do not like to pray out loud. He asked each person to just say one sentence and at the end of the prayer, some of them had tears in their eyes. He then asked who would be willing to give their testimony on Sunday. One of the ladies, gave her testimony on Sunday and so did her husband.

Tom Pewitt (Memorial) shared that last Thursday, October 26th, their Chairman of Deacons, Ray Gomillon, passed away. He was a Gideon and used to go the parish prison and hand out Bibles. Please keep his family in your prayers.

Mark Joslin (New Vision) -- The framework of their building is up. Within the next week, they should be able to start on the walls.