Mental Musings

Many people put an expectation into the holidays that is far beyond anything reasonable. Nothing can stand up to their idea of a perfect holiday. And when the day is not as they had hoped, they begin to crash emotionally. For others the holiday was difficult because they were not able to spend it with their loved ones. Either because of their work (military, missionaries, medical personnel, law enforcement, etc.) or because a loved one passed away during the year. All of their holiday cheer was drained away by the feeling of loss. Some people spend too much on the holiday and the realization of what they have done hits home when they notice how empty that bank account has become. The financial stress is put off during the buildup to the holiday, but after all of the festivities they have no other distractions to prevent them from focusing on the pending payday shortfall. Then there are those who physically lost control during the holidays. The food and drinks were passed...

After 14 years of studying music and 32 years of being paid as a musician, I am coming to the end of my music career. This decision has been something I have struggled with for almost 3 years. And now, as I come to the end, the emotional strain seems to be no less difficult. About 6 years ago I was diagnosed with asthma after a couple years of continuing respiratory illnesses. Even if I felt fine, I noticed that there was physical pain when I played my trumpet. I also would become exhausted after leading the three morning worship services. This exhaustion would last for days just in time for me to begin rehearsals for the next Sunday's services. Those would leave me physically spent as well and I would generally recover just in time for Sunday mornings. It took the doctors more than a year to diagnose me because the spirometer tests showed that I was breathing at about 90-95% of capacity, which is normal. But I knew that the tightness in my lungs and the exhaustion was ...

General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) has been credited with the famous phrase, “War is hell.” No matter how war has been depicted in books, songs, and movies, there is nothing glamorous about war. War is the physical result of a spiritual condition. My father, Lt. William James Poole, Ret. USN, served his country for 22 years. He graduated Valedictorian from the Traveler’s Rest High School in Traveler’s Rest, South Carolina. He then entered the navy as a Seaman fresh out of high school. While stationed in Rhode Island, my father somehow met Jane Louise Hearn, who was living in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. They fell in love and married before he was transferred to Florida where my sister was born. My father attended Perdue University and graduated after 4 years just 9 ours shy of completing his master’s in Electrical Engineering. The Navy would not allow him to take any further classes, so he had to delay his master’s until many years later. During that time my br...

Every time you turn around somebody is asking you to give money to help with some cause. Many people just get tired of hearing groups beg them for money; especially when they cannot afford to make a commitment to give a significant amount of money toward any cause, no matter how worthy it is. As a church planter I am learning even more about how difficult it is to get churches, groups, and individuals to give financial support. I hate begging people for money, but the cost to start a new church is expensive. That cost is just a drop in the bucket for the costs to run an established church. And since church plants are more successful in reaching lost people than established churches, that cost is definitely worth supporting. But how do you get that support when most churches are very focused on their own budget needs and many families are not willing to sacrifice large amounts of cash? For decades marketing experts had determined that the average person considered anything ...

Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world-what is viewed as nothing-to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one can boast in His presence. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 For a long time I knew that I would never be great. As a child I was good at pretty much anything I attempted, but I was never going to be great at them. It wasn't because I lacked a competitive attitude. I was a fierce competitor and have always hated losing, no matter what I am doing. It wasn't because I lacked the understanding of how to do it. I had a voracious appetite for knowledge. If it interested me, I taught myself how to do it. I even taught myself to read. Adults were always telling me, "Yo...

Sermon from October 12, 2014

There is an understanding among Christians that we don’t really like to admit out loud. We tell ourselves that we shouldn’t speak about it because it could harm the church. We pretend it doesn’t exist because we don’t want to turn people away from the church. We hide behind our good works and smile as if nothing was wrong. Christians can be some of the most hurtful people. I didn’t say hurting people, but that is also true. The church building is often full of people that are struggling just to make it through another week. And perhaps that contributes to the hurting toward others. Lashing out at others because of our own hurts. Christians more than most understand just how vile, how dirty, how undeserving we truly are. Scripture even tells us that our very best is like a soiled garment (Isaiah 64:6). Don’t get me wrong. Christians are good people; not because of something we have done. Christians are good only through the redemptive grace of Jesus Christ. It i...