One month from now, Prestonwood Dallas will host its first official live service at Hillcrest and Arapaho. It’s a very intimidating thought, because we are expecting quite a crowd on our first Sunday and have only had a short amount of time to prepare. Since we purchased the property in May, we’ve had crews busy painting, fixing, and praying over our new building. Signs have been up for over a month now outside the church, in neighborhood yards, and in the hands of our members all across the Metroplex…and there’s no shortage of unchurched people in that part of Dallas!

With a core group of a few hundred members, we are preparing to host a crowd of a thousand or more: parking them, caring for their children, welcoming and directing them, and producing a dynamic worship service intended to do one main thing: share the gospel and compel them to join us in following Christ. Its exciting, a little scary, and a huge step of faith for our small crew of staff and volunteers, but we’re trusting the God who has led us to this step of ministry, and depending on Him for great results.

You only get one first impression, and we’re hoping we allow God’s people and presence make a HUGE one in the lives of those who join us on August 21st.

Harold Camping has been the center of media attention for the past couple of days, which I guess is what you get when you spend $100 million dollars to advertise that the world is going to end, before finding out you were wrong…again!

That’s right, in case you weren’t aware, this is Camping’s third “certain” doomsday prediction. The others happened over a decade ago on May 21, 1988, and September 7, 1994, so long ago that my professors remember the controversies from the time they were students here at my seminary. It’s sad to know that the same guy has been able to gather a following twice now—and it am sad to say that it reflects poorly upon the American people and upon Christians that a false prophet is not easily recognized and discounted—Camping should have disappeared into oblivion after his first incorrect prediction.

Unfortunately, Camping is not willing to concede his position this time—he believes that the date has triggered a new era in God’s judgment of the world, and he’s pressing for us to wait another five months for the climatic events that God will begin on October 21st, 2011. Four dates, really? Come on Harold, give up already!!! You’re embarrassing the rest of us, and your repeating history you should have learned from!

Another man has created his own religious movement by predicting the end of the world before. William Miller predicted that the world would end on October 22nd, 1844, based on the passages available in the book of Daniel. When this didn’t happen, the movement went on to change a physical appearance of Christ into a spiritual one, and evolve an entirely new religious movement out of the “Christian” prediction that Christ was coming.

Needless to say, this trick is getting old. I hope Harold Camping really is confident in his works, because he faces a severe judgment from the God he says is coming to the earth. I’d hate to be in his shoes when Jesus sets the record straight, in person!

Read more about William Miller and the Seventh-Day Adventist movement here.

The lightning flashed, the thunder clapped, the sirens wailed, and Swiss Tower residents spent a few hours together huddled in the lower floor hallways…watching television and popping popcorn…so American.

Our disposition as Americans is to expect the things we have seen on television—things that will contribute to cool stories and safe-but-scary visions of the power of nature. Somehow we all operate with the idea that “it will never happen to me”. And that’s a problem.

It’s the same problem that the hundreds of victims I counseled in Alabama had. Too many of them told me the same thing, ”I didn’t think it could ever happen to me.”  And their assumption led them to stay in their homes instead of taking shelter—later enduring the storm that ripped the home apart, threw them across the yard, and in one ladies case—sucked her out of the bathtub and into the tornado’s chaos.

I have said it once, and I’ll say it again. Tornados are the worst. Hurricanes and Wildfires can be predicted, evacuated, and avoided. Tornadoes come without much warning, a lot of destruction, and no one to blame for the devastation they leave behind. They leave destruction that traumatizes the people who endure them and the people who attempt to save others after the event—normal people who live life with the memories of the death they witnessed after the storm had passed.

It’s tornado season—if you’re playing the “it will never happen to me” game this season, please decide to play it safe from here forward. Get educated on the dangers, and take precautions whenever a tornado might strike. Get to shelter, a basement, or an interior room without windows, which shatter in the tornado every time—preferably the bathtub which holds the walls around it together. Wrap yourself in a blanket, tarp, or other protective wrap in case you get pelted with debris. Expect the tornado to rip off the roof of your home. Expect it to utterly destroy any vehicle in its path. And expect it to hit you!

In this case, I would definitely rather be safe than sorry…and I hope I might have convinced you to do the same.

See some of the devastation from Alabama here.

Read more about tornados here, including the facts that most tornados occur in the United States and that they have hit many city centers.

Dear Prayer Warriors,

As some of you know, Stacy and I volunteer with a ministry that works with victims of crime, trauma, and disaster called Victim Relief Ministries (VRM).  We have been asked to go to Hamilton, AL to work with the victims of the recent tornadoes that destroyed that town. Because Tuscaloosa is the media’s primary focus, the majority of people do not know that in Marion Country, where Hamilton is located, almost as many people have died as Tuscaloosa. When the neighboring county of Franklin is included, more people have died and property destroyed than Tuscaloosa. Unfortunately, the people in these two counties have received little government disaster assistance from the state of Alabama so far, and there is an absence of the American Red Cross, Samaritan’s Purse, also. VRM is focusing their efforts in this area to meet unmet needs for now.  So as Patrick and I prepare to leave tomorrow morning for Hamilton, AL we ask that you lift up the following cares to our Savior:

1)      Please pray for these victims who have lost everything. Pray for their safety as they sleep outside in makeshift tents, because no one has come to help them set up shelters.

2)      Pray for the State of Alabama, the American Red Cross, and other ‘physical aid’ organizations, that they will send aid to help the people of these counties as well.

3)      Pray for the search and rescue teams who are searching for survivors and loved ones who have been reported missing. Pray for their emotional and physical protection as they are exhausted and the work is overwhelming and traumatizing.

4)      Pray for the VRM Chaplains and Crisis Responders, some who have been in Hamilton since Friday, as we minister to the lost and the hurting. May the love of Jesus be shown and the Hope of Good News shared to the hurting.  Please pray for our spiritual, emotional, and physical protection as well as endurance.  May all we say and do be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Thanks for praying for us, VRM and the victims of this disaster.

If you feel led to give, please do so through the VRM website at www.victimrelief.org. There’s a donate button on the bottom of the front page.

Stacy and I had the privilege of serving with Victim Relief Ministries over Easter weekend as they responded to those affected by the Texas Wildfires in Possum Kingdom. We met government officials, firefighters, and homeowners and sought to minister to them in the midst of this disaster. I recently wrote a summary of our activity, and wanted to share it with you…

About the Fire:

The Possum Kingdom West Fire started on Wednesday, April 13th west of Possum Kingdom Lake in Stephens County. On April 19, the Jackson Ranch Fire was added to the PK Complex Fire. Management of the Complex was taken over by the Southern Area Type 1 IMT on April 20th at 08:00 and 755 personnel were committed to the Complex, including local fire departments from the DFW area, state and federal agencies and Texas Army National Guard. Two thousand homes were threatened, with a total loss of 126,734 acres, 167 homes and 124 outbuildings.

About Victim Relief’s Role in the Disaster:

Victim Relief began responding to the events on April 16th after the loss of a fireman and have been actively involved ever since, supporting the fireman, civil officials, and victims of this disaster through the end of the danger to residents. Victim Chaplains and Crisis Responders have been active in counseling those affected by loss, fear, and destruction, many of whom were forced to evacuate their homes in the midst of these events.

This past weekend the tireless efforts of everyone involved and the blessing of rain helped advance the fire’s containment to 90% and returned safety to the residential areas of Possum Kingdom. As residents were allowed to return to their property, Victim Relief Chaplains and Crisis Responders counseled men and women, pastors and parishoners, and builders who faced the loss of their property, their memories, their businesses, their churches, and their animals. As workers continued to staff shifts throughout the Easter holiday, Victim Relief assisted in organizing an early morning worship service on Sunday for them to attend.

Victim Relief has been in active attendance at the community meetings, and has formed a partnership with the local Baptist Association of churches in Palo Pinto county to ensure that emotional and spiritual support is readily available and accessible to victims throughout the area as they work through the effects of these events over the coming weeks and months. Our hearts and prayers are with all the people involved in these events throughout Texas, and we pray for God’s hand to be active in comforting and consoling each person affected by the fires.

(Map and Event Information courtesy of the Incident Information System Website at inciweb.org)

To contribute to Victim Relief’s efforts in serving the victims of crime, disaster, and terrorism, please donate here.