Here are the real top ten things I love about America -

10. I love the diversity of this country. The blend of cultures means you can get all kinds of  everything everywhere you go.

9. I love the fact that the stores don’t all close at 5.30pm, like they did in Scotland.

8. I love living in a country with a great tradition of support and involvement worldwide - military, economic and humanitarian.

7. I love the national anthem.

6. I love baseball and football - can’t deal with basketball or ice hockey - miss cricket!

5. I love being surrounded by people who dream and are unafraid to pursue those dreams.

4. I love the strong Christian influence there is in a country where God is still very much on the agenda - if you think the USA is post-Christian, try living in Europe first and then talk to me again.

3. I love the fact that Americans tend to be givers, with a heart to share all that they enjoy.

2. I love Manhattan at Christmas and Montauk in the summer. I love the fact that this place is so big every state is like a different country.

1. I love Church At The Movies.

0. I that you can arrive on these shores knowing next to no one and within a few years have loads of really good friends - Americans are very open people.

-1. I love Turkey Hill Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.

-2. I love that you don’t have to be good at counting to 10 or even counting down from 10 to be accepted.

On this eve of Independence Day, I’ve been reflecting on seventeen years of living in this great country and what I’ve come to appreciate most about it. Here’s my list -

10. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cops

9. New York Pizza

8. New York Cheesecake

7. New York Bagels - Plain with Cinnamon, raisin, walnut cream cheese.

6. 7-11 coffee and buttered rolls

5. New York Diners

4. French fries from Checkers

3. Dunkin’ Donuts

2. Turkey Hill Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

1. What else do you expect after all that ? - Weight Watchers of course!

The votes have been counted - America has spoken (several other countries too!) - and it seems the one life message, recurring theme that constantly comes through my preaching is reckoned by the majority to be …..

IT’S NOT ABOUT US!

And I’m not arguing with that - just glad so many people have got the point!!!

There’s no question that baptisms are generally the highlight of our Celebration Sundays and I guess this coming Sunday will be no exception as we share with those who will be publicly testifying to their faith in Jesus.

Communion is a centerpiece of this special day too and we also have a baby dedication scheduled. but sitting here this evening, the thing I’m looking forward to most is that I get to teach again this week.

We’ve had very good guest preachers throughout the One Prayer series, but I’ll be glad to be back doing something I love!

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine this morning in my favorite local Diner. He was asking me how I deal with the frustrations triggered by people who never seem to get it - they’re not comitted to Sunday worship on a really regular basis, never get into small groups, don’t serve and don’t tithe.

The bottom line is it’s important that leaders remember we are there to serve the church (the people) and the people are not there to serve the leaders and their programs.

So a few weeks shy of 38 years down the pastoring road, how have I avoided an ulcer, a nervous breakdown, a heart attack or total disillusionment that has driven me from ministry altogether?

1. I have come to appreciate that some people never will get it.

2. I recognize that while they may be wonderful people and are without question children of God, they are not going to play a significant role in achieving God’s purposes. So I don’t focus on them.

3. I don’t preach sermons that beat up a few people whose lack of commitment is ticking me off. They won’t hear it anyway and instead good people will begin to question whether they themselves are really up to the mark.

4. I lay everything out before people - provide small groups, encourage small group participation, talk about serving, organize opportunities for them to get plugged in, preach about money, emphasize that tithing is a foundation issue, etc. In doing so I am serving them - whether they take it up is their responsibility.

5. If we hold a prayer night and a handful of people show up, so be it. If we come into a small groups semester and don’t fill every one we made available, well at least we offered them.

I’m dead serious about what I’m doing and so I won’t let my energy be sapped by those who don’t want to move on. I’d rather get exhausted keeping up with those that are racing forward to reach more of the unreached.

So I don’t know whether I dropped my iPod in the DR or left it in the hotel room and one of the staff repossessed it, but the bottom line is I have concluded that in 2008 no pastor should be trying to live without an iPod.

With that in mind I am now the proud ownder of an iPod Touch, which is quite an amazing piece of technology, especially for someone born long before even cassettes were invented, or come to think of it, color televisions, cell phones, home computers and a million other things that have either come and gone or come and stayed to be frequently re-invented.

The iPod Touch is a further development of an amazing tool and in addition to keeping me up with good preaching thanks to iTunes and podcasting, providing me with a great mix of music and some videos too, this one gives me internet access (just in case my phone fails to do so I guess!), tells me the weather and will even provide me with a map that pinpoints exactly where I am - which is very useful at my age. As soon as they add the program that tells me what I’m there for, trust me I’ll rush out to buy it.

Loving my iPod Touch - glad to have my iPod library back at my fingertips!

I’d love to have Gary Lamb - www.garylamb.org - come preach for us one Sunday at Church At The Movies,  but he likes being away from Revolution Church about as much as I enjoy Sundays I’m not with our folks - which is not very much at all.

But One Prayer opened up the possibility of bringing his teaching to Yankee country (talking geography there and not baseball of course) and we had a great morning with his video teaching on Make Us Revolutionary.

I knew what Gary was going to be  preaching about because we have talked about it over the past couple of months and also because I watched the entire recording of his message twice over before today. He was talking about stuff he’s passionate about and is out there doing - building church for the unchurched.

He started today where we started our very first service almost ten years ago, embracing Jesus’ own summary of what he was about - The son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus was focused on reaching lost people - and we should be too. Hardly rocket science, is it? But in 2008 much of Christendom has lost sight of the whole point. They’ve forgotten what it’s about.

I liked Gary’s statement that doing church for the unchurched is messy - and of course I agree 100%.

He was also right on with the fact that if Christians don’t like the way church is being done, that’s okay because they’re not our target. There are a zillion places out there doing church for them.

It was also great that he pointed out we don’t wear casual clothes, have good music, etc, etc, just to be cool. We do it to create an environment that will be comfortable to those we are keen to see come and join us.

I did ask Gary a couple of months ago to help me out and not curse during his teaching - and he almost did it. He recovered well from his one slip of the tongue!

Best of all about this morning was that while much of what Gary preached had been said in our church before, he did it in a different way, with a different accent, at 90mph and so effectively that some people who had really not grasped the point before actually had an epiphany today.

Great job Gary - but call me “old man” one more time and I’ll slap you!

We left Montauk around 9.30 this morning and headed for home. The plan had been to spend the day on the beach if the weather was promising, but it wasn’t, so we took the second option and got back here with more time to get everything in line for the weekend.

This will be the last Sunday of One Prayer and while we’ve got some outstanding things in the pipeline for the rest of summer, I must confess this seems to be one of those series that feels like it’s over when it only just started. I’m glad our folks got the opportunity to hear Craig Groeschel and Perry Noble, but this final message is very special indeed as they’ll get to listen to a good friend of mine, Gary Lamb - www.garylamb.org

Gary will bring a great message on Make Us Revolutionary and he’s so on our wavelength that it may be some people will think I wrote his message for him. I didn’t, though we have occasionally exchanged ideas on other topics we were planning to preach on.

I generally get to see Gary a couple of times a year and really look forward to those opportunities. He’s fun to hang out with and his enthusiasm for reaching the unchurched is contagious. I like a guy who’s focused, knows what he’s meant to be doing and won’t be distracted from his vision. Add to that he’s almost half my age, so he brings a whole different perspective on planting and developing church.

If you’re within traveling distance of Church At The Movies, you really don’t want to miss Sunday morning.

So here I am sitting out at Montauk on a gray and not too warm afternoon, reflecting on turning 58.

+ This morning I turned in my best time of the week for my early-ish run along the hills of Old Montauk Highway - a good way to start the day. I guess I must be far healthier now than I was at 48 and probably even 38 0r 28!

+ My parents planned things very well. A June 26th birthday means the two big celebrations of the year - birthday and Christmas - are perfectly spaced. Of course they didn’t plan much back then - in fact the doctor had told my mother that she wasn’t pregnant at all … surprise!

+ Our grandchildren are on their way out to see us - with their mothers of course. I appreciate family far more with each passing year.

+ Forty years ago today I attended an Open Day at the Bible College I was enrolled in for the fall of ‘68. That was when I saw Gill for the first time and hoped I’d get to meet her when I returned at the end of summer for the start of classes. And the rest, as they say, is history.

+ I have no grasp whatever of the fact that I am aging - is that denial, stupidity or some other definable psychiatric condition?

+ My vacation reading has been interesting. More about that another time.

+ No, Billy - www.billyritchie.org - though you may have heard it often lately, my one message is not The Mets suck!

+ Looking back to this time last summer, this has been a good year. Last June as a church we were about to make a significant change of location and it has turned out to be a very helpful one for us - though I had my concerns at the time.

+ I have a wonderful wife. a great family, outstanding friends and a remarkable church. Life is good - even as the clock continues ticking towards 59!

Check out this post on my old buddy Gary Lamb’s Blog (he’s preaching for us Sunday and you’re going to love it!) -

http://www.garylamb.org/2008/06/24/whats-your-message/

He suggests that with most preachers, there is one major point that comes through in their teaching time after tiome after time. I’ve been thinking about this and wondering what my recurring message is or if I have one.

Answers to - roger@churchatthemovies.com please!

Not looking for compliments, just clarification!