Clown Program - report . . .

To those who read the post about the clown program that we did last night in Union, I thought that I would give a brief report. We had the privilege of doing the program at the First Baptist Church. We were invited by our friends Janet and Spencer Ledford. Janet is actually the one who prayed me into clowning, so it is always a special time to gather with them and their family. It was extra special since this is their first ministry as staff at a church. We had a great time and so did all that were in attendance. The best part of the night was that God allowed us to see a harvest for His kingdom. A teenage young lady accepted Christ as her savior last night and we have a new sister to journey through life with. It is always fun to make people smile, laugh and bring joy into a church, but it is special time when you get to see a life changed. We thank the Lord for what He did last night, we give Him the glory and thank Him for the opportunity to join Him in His work. That is what makes all the effort worth while.
Until next time - keep your eyes on Jesus and keep smiling - people will wonder what you are up to.

Clown Program . . .

For those of you that follow what we are doing as clowns - we have a program with PeeWee and Bumper tomorrow evening at the First Baptist Church in Union, SC. This is Irene's home town. Pray that God will use us in a mighty way to bring joy to the people of this church and even bring a harvest of souls for the kingdom.

Until next time - keep your eyes on Jesus and smile, there are clowns on this page.

Clowns and Reunions . . .

OK, today’s post is going to be a lot lighter than yesterday’s. Irene and I are going to be clowning and twisting balloons at a festival this Saturday evening at the YMCA in Travelers Rest. We have had the privilege of doing this festival with Bo and Brynda Brown for the last two or three years. It is always an enjoyable evening, but usually results in sore hands the next day because of the amount of balloons that we end up twisting. It’s always a good time because of the kids that we see, the snow cones and hotdogs that we eat and the fellowship that we share. I’m looking forward to it this year because we haven’t clowned together since July and I think we all are going into withdrawals.
This Saturday night is also my 30 year high school reunion. It really doesn’t seem like it was thirty years ago this past June that we graduated from Wade Hampton High School. It doesn’t seem that way until I walk by a mirror or I see somebody that I went to school with and see gray in their hair that I realize that the past thirty years have pasted in a blur. The school that we graduated from doesn’t even exist anymore. There is a brand new Wade Hampton in its place now. My friend that contacted me about the reunion wants Irene and I to stop by the reunion after the festival Saturday. I’m not sure that I have enough guts to show up to my reunion as a clown. But, one thing is for sure – I bet everyone there would remember the clowns coming in if nothing else.
We are now only three and a half weeks away from vacation and I can’t wait. I’m really looking forward to being able to get away and just relax. I look forward to blogging while on vacation because I think when relaxed I’ll be able to think again.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and let’s twist some balloons for Christ.

Salutations from Clown School . . .

For those of you that may not know what that title means – greetings, hellos, alohas, from clown school. Please be in prayer for us as we seek God in our clown ministry. To those of us that are here, this is like revival. It is not only a time to get together and learn new skills and develop new characters, it is most importantly a time of spiritual reflection.

This will be a short post because one – I’m tired. I have been averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night since getting here. Secondly – I don’t want to miss out on anything. I have the privilege to be at a school where we have the official artist of the Ringling Brothers Circus. I have been sitting here as I post and watching him design clown faces for people. I sat in a class earlier and listened to him teach – WOW – what an opportunity.

We have an official prayer consultant on staff this year that we can meet with and she keeps notes and helps us pray through things that each of us is dealing with. I had a chance to share with her last night and she is now praying for our student ministry and our taking the school campuses for Christ this year. This place is so cool.

For now – keep your eyes on Jesus and let us all reflect Jesus in all that we do.

Words from a crowded mind . . .

I just wanted to get a few lines off to maybe relieve the crowded mind that I have right now. Do you ever feel like there is so much going on between your ears that occasionally if you could just get a few out the over crowding would lessen – so here we go:

Things here at work are chaos right now. Yesterday was a 14 hour day (at the office at 6:30 am and leave at 9:15 pm). That was way too much time in front of a computer. Pray for me, we have a big submittal next Monday and next Friday. After that things should get back to normal – if they ever were normal.

We leave for Charleston this afternoon. I really have mixed emotions about being away. I’m looking forward to good fellowship and good food and the best part to get to share Jesus with children as a clown and some rest. The down side is that I will be away from New Hope on Sunday and will miss seeing my favorite peeps – the students of HeirBorn student ministries.

I can’t wait to hear David’s sermon when I get back. Make sure you record it Brad.

Godstock is a go!!! We are looking at a date in August right after school starts back. Jonathan and his band are on board. I’m praying about the right speaker for this event. Grab hold and hang on, there is a lot of work to be done. We are going to blow it out for this event.

David Roach is really jazzed about all of the evangelistic events that our students came up with and boy did you guys and gals think outside the box. Pray for David as he tries to prioritize these events and then he and I try to get them on a calendar. This summer is going to be a busy summer.

We are going to be eating a Sweatman’s Bar-B-Que tonight in Holly Hill SC. This may be one of the all time great places to eat. I can just about taste it now.

Make sure to keep watching my blog this weekend, I’m going to try to post each day we are there. I have a new idea for a post that I hope to do bi-weekly. Very life application stuff.

Why do we complicate trying to figure out what God’s will for our lives is? JUST DO WHATEVER HE SAYS! See Perry Noble’s blog today.

If I get anymore jazzed about HeirBorn student ministries and the students (the greatest students in the world) I may explode. What a horrible thought – Mr. Allen parts everywhere – yuck.

Just a quick shout – Crystal Ledford you are da bomb; just let Jesus have it and He will give back beyond your dreams. Just remember that following Jesus is never boring. Crystal Symsick – keep on relying on Jesus and praying for your friends – I can’t wait to meet Anna. Ashley and Rachel – email me and tell me about that special thing you are doing on Saturdays. Willie – I’m praying for you pal. Keep up the good fight and blessings are coming. Sunshine – it is great to have you back, I missed you. Thank you for my birthday present. David – thanks for cover Sunday night for me. I could not do this ministry without you and the rest of the leadership team. Barry – I’m praying for you and Elevate as well as finals. Pastor Chad and Robbie – you guys are the best. I am really blessed to have been called to work with you guys.

Well my mind is less crowded now, so I will quit. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and stay on the alert – the enemy comes to destroy – but he doesn’t believe he is defeated – we know that he is.

Office and Church and Clowns – Oh My . . .

You know, sometimes I can’t be tired and excited at the same time, and I’m not exactly sure how that happens – but it does. Things at my office are wide open right now and sometimes, like yesterday, just a little overwhelming. There is a lot of work to get done and very little time to get it done. I generally work well under pressure, but sometimes like yesterday I feel like the world is going to run over me. I’m tired and need to get away from everything for a little while and that is going to happen this weekend, but until then lots to do with a little bit of time.

Things that make me excited while I am as tired as I am right now are things that God has called me to do. I get pretty jazzed (I like that word and Jonathan Elrod and I have decided to bring it back) about is having lunch with a friend like Jonathan Elrod. He and I have known each other for 12 or 15 years now and I am always encouraged when I leave him. I am always surprised at his energy for God’s work. I met with Jonathan to brain storm about an event that I will talk about in a later blog, but Jonathan is a great help the ministry the God has called me to do. He was so excited to hear about how HeirBorn Student Ministries is doing and was blown away when I told him about this past Sunday night. Later in the afternoon, after speaking with David Roach, I was blown away. I had been telling Jonathan about all of the ideas that the students and adults had come up with as evangelistic events. When I talked with David, I found out that there was a list of over 80 events and most were way outside the box. I am so jazzed about the way God is blessing our students and His ministry. I am really looking forward to what God is going to do this summer with this group of students. Lots of work to be done and hopefully God will allow us to see a great harvest. What I do understand is that anytime we are making advances into Satan’s territory, he will fight back. What I also understand is that this is a battle that God fights – we need to stay close to Him; He is our protection and our strength.

This weekend is for ministry and rest. Smokie, Flower, PeeWee and Bumper have the opportunity to share Jesus with a group of children at Cooper River Baptist Church this Sunday, in Charleston. Please pray that God speaks through our group in a way that will touch the hearts of those children. Let me say this – I would not be able to continue to do our clown ministry without the leaders that God has placed at New Hope. David Roach will be taking care of the youth worship service Sunday night. Now that we are recording the youth worship services – I’ll get to hear him bring the message. We will not start home from Charleston until Monday – pray that we have safe travel to and from this event. All four of us have been stretched pretty thin and are tired. As much as we are looking forward to sharing Jesus, we are also looking forward to some much needed rest. Watch my blog throughout the weekend for current posts of what we are doing and how things are going.

I am really looking forward to this evening. You can’t believe how much I miss being around our students. I really look forward to Wednesday’s to find out how their week is going and how God is blessing their lives. If you have not read Pastor Chad’s blog today, check it out – he is bragging on one of our students. Way to go Crystal – Hero of the week.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and prepare for battle.

What an Incredible Weekend . . .

Let me start out by saying that the God I serve is incredible. I have been asking for Him to show up and give me some confirmation about some things and to re-affirm that He is real and working in my life. Now, don’t go getting all self righteous on me, we all need to feel the realness at times and boy did God show out this weekend.

Let me back up and start with Friday evening. Some of you may know that my wife and I are gospel clowns and that we clown with another couple under the name – “The King’s Clowns.” Well, we had the opportunity to clown and tie balloons for the children and adults of Greenbriar Elementary School at their spring fling Friday night. These kids were great – none were rude, all were very polite and willing to wait in line to get their balloon creations. We must have tied 1500 balloons. Well, after we packed up we went to eat at Applebee’s on Woodruff Rd. We go walking in (still in clown) and sit down to eat. We’re tired, but God always seems to give us someway to witness for Him. We cut up with the children and the waiters and anyone else that slowed down around us. At the end of our meal the waiter came to us and said that our meal was taken care of by someone who over heard us talking about clowning for Jesus – WOW, what a blessing. Thank you whoever you are and thank you God.

Saturday was great – it was my birthday. I had a great day and that evening my beautiful wife had arranged a surprise birthday party for me. I knew that we were going to meet my mom and brother along with my in-laws at a restaurant, but when we went around the corner, there was the associate pastor and his family and my pastor and his family came to join us along with the friends that we clowned with the night before. What a great surprise. The restaurant staff sang to me and I got a hot fudge sundae. I love ice cream.

Sunday came and the weekend just got better. The early worship was great. The music was over the top and the new sermon series that Pastor Chad is bringing is wonderful. He’s preaching on the second coming of Jesus. If you missed the sermon you can link to his blog and listen there. The title of the series is “Are We There Yet?” That is a great sermon series title. Sunday night finally came and I had the privilege to begin laying out the vision God has given me for our student ministries. Before I got up to speak, the youth praise band did a great job and Crystal Ledford blew us away with a song. I started laying out the vision God has given me ad the first step was evangelism. I talked about this being one of our primary purposes and that we are going to grow. I was blown away, when at the end of the evening I had everyone break into small groups and discuss how they would like to fulfill the first step in the vision which was evangelism. I have said that we have the best students anywhere. Our students must have come up with 50 or more creative ways to reach their friends for Christ. I gave the list to David Roach (my right hand and evangelism point man for our student ministry) and he is going to put a list together and everything that the students and adults came up with. Boy, everybody better hang on, this is going to be a busy summer.

There are still things that I can’t reveal yet that God is doing in the background. My prayer has been to be a part of a God sized thing and I think we are right on the verge. Keep praying, keep reading your bibles and keep inviting your friends and hang on – this is going to be better than a roller-coaster.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and get ready for battle. We’re getting ready to storm the gates.

The Birth of a Clown . . .

I was thinking that maybe some of those who read this Blog would be interested in how I became a Christian Clown. The bio (which was written several years ago now, but slightly modified today for this posting) tells the story of the birth of a clown . . .

I think that it is truly surprising that more people have never seen a 6 foot tall Leprechaun (my first clown character-Shamrock.) I also find it amazing, that when I tell people that I have known for years that I was a clown, they say that they have always known it too.

I grew up with great parents and a wonderful brother in Greenville, SC. At a young age I had a life changing experience during vacation bible school. This is when God began to make tremendous changes in my life. As a teenager and young adult I was very active with the youth group in my home church. I continued to be involved with the youth into my mid-twenties, as one of my best friends was the youth minister. During this time, he allowed me to help plan and carry out many of the mission projects and youth events. Then at the age of 33 I surrendered to the call into the ministry. I enrolled into North Greenville College as a sophomore and worked as a youth minister. During this time is when God brought forth many more changes in my life. My personality had always lent itself to be a behind the scenes planner and worker and never would I have been on center stage. But as God would have it during my college days the curtain began to lift and God brought me to the forefront of his ministry.

Now, I am a Structural designer for an engineering firm in downtown Greenville. I create drawings on a computer of office buildings and parking decks. I have a wonderful wife that supports me in all that I do and I find that as each day passes I love her more and treasure what we have together. I am also very blessed to be the Student Pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Mauldin, SC.

Several years ago the leadership of the creative ministry team at Rocky Creek Baptist Church (of which I was a member at the time) was praying for someone to head up a new ministry, Christian clowning. As God lead me I accepted the challenge and agreed to head up this new ministry. Having never done this before the church looked for help and as God would have it, He sent Mike “Squeaker” Galloway to our rescue. And what a surprise upon surprises, as Mike and I knew each other from the many youth camps we had done together. I think as another friend of mine would say, “It’s a God thing”.

Gospel clowning has given me a whole new way to share the Gospel with youth and children as well as adults. It is truly amazing, in this world that we live in, hope, joy and laughter seems as foreign at times as does a 6 foot tall leprechaun. My belief is that God has allowed me to clown in order to share laughter at the funny things a clown does, hope that comes from knowing His Son and joy in a relationship with a loving God. My prayer is that God will continue to develop that clown that He birthed within me and to use me to help bring a harvest into His Kingdom. You know, I’m still more comfortable behind the scenes, but God is still working and making changes in my life.

Since I originally wrote this bio of a clown, God has birthed two other clown characters within me – Smokie and Dusty. I do Smokie most often and Dusty is still under development. I clown with my wife Irene (Flower) and two of my best friends BO and Brenda Brown (PeeWee and Bumper). We have a clown ministry called “The King’s Clowns”. God has blessed us greatly and looks to continue to do so.

Until next time – Keep your eyes on Jesus and a smile on your face.