Are You Ready
…for some football?! Now that’s what I’m talking about! Those words, “Are you ready for some football” have been the words that ushered in the start of Monday night football on television for years. I can still hear ole Hank Williams, Jr. sounding off as a commercial promo to that event every Monday night. He set the stage for what a lot of folks anxiously await all year …the start of the football season. Now me personally, I don’t get into the pro stuff so much. I’d rather watch college football, more specifically, them Clemson Tigers. And I believe this year, a “lit’l Dab’s gonna do ya,” …a little Dabo Sweeney that is. Now I don’t mind watching the Carolina Gamecocks play occasionally. For example, I was once invited by ole Slim Simms to travel to Sanford Stadium to watch Georgia (his team) put a whupp’n on them Gamecocks. But unfortunately for them Bulldogs (and Slim), them chickens hammered them Bulldogs instead and ole Slim was sullen and near ‘bouts speechless all the way home. Now watching the Gamecocks play under those circumstances made for one good fall afternoon. Otherwise though, I’m all about Clemson. Yep, I’m like a lot of folks, ready for some football, baby!
But football is just a sign of the times for something else that folks like me are anxiously awaiting. And that is opening day. Now if you gots to ask, “Opening day, what’s that?” well never mind, you probably wouldn’t get it even if I explained it. But for folks all over the Southland, opening day is probably the most culturally anticipated day on the calendar. The term “opening day” is actually symbolic of several days…like opening day of dove season, opening day of archery season, opening day of gun season, opening day of rabbit, squirrel, duck, etc. Regardless, they all signal the end of the dog days of summer and the start of many wonderful days afield enjoying God’s glorious fall colors and cooler temps, all while trying to fill the freezer with incredibly delicious wild game. By the way, you’ve heard no doubt what Indians call very bad hunters…vegetarians.
Now I would remind those who are a bit squeamish at the thought of getting your meat from the field rather than the grocery store that God actually spoke about this in His Word. In fact, most folks who know me know my favorite verse in the Bible is Genesis 27:3, in which Isaac says to Esau, “Now then, get thy weapons, thy bow and thy quiver, and go out into the open country and hunt some wild game for me.” Shucks, the way I figure it, if it was good enough for Isaac it is good enough for me. While there is nothing in the Bible mentioned about golfing or water skiing or baseball or most other outdoor pursuits, bow hunting is clearly Biblical and far be it from me to declare unclean that which God has declared clean. So with that in mind, all’s I got to say is…are you ready for some wonderful days afield in the open country?
Speaking of days afield, it is hard to believe that in just five short weeks, HarvestFest ’09 will be here again. This will be the fourth annual outdoor event sponsored by the Lakelands Baptist Association and hosted by Connie Maxwell Children’s Home. Remember when we first started we had approximately 700 in attendance, which we thought was great. But then last year, our third year, we had over 3000 present. Incredible! Well, this year’s HarvestFest is scheduled for the first Saturday in October, with Soulstice as the singing group and Adrian Depres as our guest speaker. Gate opens at 5:00, speaker at 6:45, followed by music. I am hoping even more churches in the association will provide food for this year’s event. Without faithful churches, this associational event would not happen. By the way, a very important meeting will be held at the office on 14 September at 6:30. Each church working a booth will receive their parking passes, instructions and…are you ready for this, HarvestFest ’09 shirts will be available for you and they look awesome. So get your shirt orders together and come to the meeting so we can get ready for the very best fall evenings in the Upstate… HarvestFest ’09!
And oh yeah, are you ready for some futball, uh, soccer that is. Our Multicultural Team has been working with our Hispanic Church at the Hispanic Soccer League on Sunday afternoons, passing out water and just getting to know folks associated with that league, and so now, for the first time…could I have a drum roll please, the Association is sponsoring and South Main Street Baptist Church is hosting, the very first Lakelands Hispanic Soccer Championship on Sunday afternoon, 31 August. And the best part, the league’s leader is going to allow our Hispanic pastor, Damian Huerta, to share the gospel with all the teams prior to the event. Now how cool is that? God is great! Pray for this event and come be a part of it and watch God shine…as Sue McElroy would say.
And not only that, but are you ready for the first ever, the only one in the state, association sponsored Women’s Ministry Team (WMT) hosting their first event at Harris Baptist Church on Thursday, 17 September. Remember back when our Men’s Ministry hosted the ladies night out and 375 women showed up. Well, out of that event came the realization that not enough was being done to reach the women in our association to bring them together for fellowship, edification and discipleship. From that, well…waa-laa, the WMT was born. They have been meeting for months in prayer and preparation, not just for the meeting on the 17th, but for the effectiveness of the WMT for years to come. I love their t-shirts. On the back of the shirts are upcoming dated events on the calendar for our ladies to look forward to, while the third event is undated yet the greatest of them all…the coming of Jesus.
Which brings me back to…Are You Ready?!...not for football or futball or archery season or HarvestFest or anything else, are you ready for His return? We’d better be, cause the way things is looking, His return might just be sooner rather than later.
