Last night Al and I drove to Boston to a Boston Baptist College alumni dinner (can you say free barbeque). I have had a relationship with the school, and I’m a pastor, so I was invited to attend via email from my friend Scotty Anderson.
We twittered about it all night (yet another exciting reason to twitter), but I thought I’d say a few words about it on my blog. BBC is a college that has its roots in the Baptist Bible Fellowship, and is a network of autonomous (unless you change the name of your church to not have the word “Baptist” anymore) churches for the purpose of things like fellowship and missions. Typically I enjoy spending time with many of these pastors, and really, this evening was no exception.
Al and I arrived late because of traffic, and almost all the barbeque was gone when we got there. But we dug up the food we could, which was very amazing. And we ate. This was good too. Among the things on the menu:
Barbeque Beef sandwiches
Bbq baked beans
Corn bread
the most amazing cheesecake bites ever
After we ate, the program began. There are some things that are done well during bbf meetings like this, but there is hardly anything that is done relevant. For instance, the music was wonderful, it was just boring, with the exception of one song where this girl stole the show from her parents (who were the main performers) and sang this song with her dad that was absolutely brilliant. The song was old-fashioned, but how it was done was great.
After the concert, a alumnus from the school came to the stage and offered some thoughts on how it prepared him for his work on the mission field. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Perhaps the only redeeming part of the night was the speaker (every BBF meeting has a preacher, not a speaker, amen!) named Paul Trinkle. I know Paul’s brother, Ed, but had never got a chance to meet him. His message was encouraging as he focused on the relationship of Moses and Joshua, and encouraged every Moses (old guy) to have a Joshua, and every Joshua (young guy) to become a Moses. (from Exodus 33)
After the meeting, Al and I talked to several people we know, and then we went to Dunkin Donuts with some of my closer friends from the group and talked church for a bit. Actually, one of our friends, attempted to share with several of us why we should be more a part of the BBF. I was not convinced. In fact, one of the lessons I learned from the chat was that the ONLY thing I need from this organization is fellowship. I don’t need or want their money. I don’t need to send any of my students to their Bible college. I only need to be able to chat with a group of guys who are going through many of the same things I am. Here are 3 of the guys I met with:
Left to right: Paul Trinkle, Sean Sears, Rob Willis (not pictured: James Tomassen (sp?), Al Dancy)
We stayed there chatting until about 10:35 pm, at which time the Celtics had already beaten up on the Pistons in game 1. I had a great time, like I always do even with the music and suits, because of relationships. This is why I go.
I did ask myself however if I would have rather have been here.
How about this? My dad’s favorite teams in basketball and hockey are the Pistons and the Red Wings
My favorite teams are the Celtics and the Penguins.
I bet there will be some trash talking!
