.

VLOG 1

2008-12-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

Advent Conspiracy
Alternatives for Simple Living

2007-09-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

Follow me

2006-08-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

My latest post is here. At the end of this month, August, I will leave this site entirely in favor of my new blog site.

Could you put someone's eye out that way?

2006-08-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

I took an elbow to the cheekbone in a pick-up game of basketball Friday night. The shock was worse than the pain, so I shook it off and kept playing.

When the game was over I found a mirror in the men’s room and noticed a small slice and some puffiness just below my right eye. It was probably going to swell some more. It did. By morning it had also turned several shades of red and purple.

Several people have advised me that it might be time to consider giving up basketball. Maybe I should admit I am getting older, they offer with seemingly sincere concern for my well-being.

I am not ready to concede that I am too old for a pick-up game of basketball, but I have given thought to whether or not this accident means I should consider finding calmer hobbies. I don’t think so.

I can’t imagine giving up basketball just because I took an elbow to my cheek. Such a risk is part of the game; anyone who is afraid of the possibility of such a minor injury, it is true, doesn’t belong on a basketball court. I enjoy playing basketball enough, though, it is worth the risk.

It seems to me that to attempt to live a risk-free life would be incredibly boring. It also seems to me that many of us Christians have attempted to live just such a life, at least in spiritual terms. In the interest of reducing risk, we seek tame, docile, boring lives, then we wonder why we don’t know the joy that King David, Nehemiah, Peter and Paul knew.

Jesus offers us not just life, but abundant, full, joyous life. It will come with some risk. I believe it is worth the risk to live the life Jesus invites all of us to live.

Touchy Subject

2006-07-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

Divorce is tough on everyone involved. Some friends of mine are in the process right now. I have been through it myself, and would not wish it on anyone.

It is especially difficult on the children involved. Some people will tell you that it is harder on smaller children, but in many situations I have known, grown children of divorcing couples are affected deeply as well.

If you have read this far and are ready to set this column aside because you are not and don’t plan to be involved in a divorce, hold on! Keep reading; I promise this column will be relevant to you, too.

As adults, especially as parents, we all share a responsibility for the raising of our children. I happen to believe that this responsibility is not only to my own children, but that part of being an adult means sharing a general responsibility for the raising of all children.

In our society today, though, many adults are preoccupied with their own lives and desires and interests. Sometimes this is to the detriment of their children. Certainly parents need to do things to take care of themselves, but we have to learn to do this in ways that do not impinge on care of their children.

This obviously affects single parents more extremely than married parents. If two parents can work together to make sure the needs of the children are held in high regard, space and time can be found, negotiated or carved without such severe effects on the children.

This summer I have met youth from all over this part of the country. I have heard many stories from them, and seen in casual observation at these events and just out and about in the world that youth are hurting. The children and youth of our culture are in general paying a high price for the too prevalent selfish desires and appetites of the adults in their world.

Our children and youth deserve better. We owe it to them to do better.

Coming to an end...

2006-07-27T04:48:00.000-07:00

I am moving to noncon. For the next several weeks I will be sending emails and otherwise helping people find me there.

The Middle East

2006-07-19T04:59:00.000-07:00

Whatever else I can tell you about the current war in the Middle East between Israel and Hizbollah, let me assure you of one thing. These events are not part of God's plan to bring an end to the world.
This is a difficult week to write a column. It is Sunday afternoon. The difficulty arises from having no idea what might happen between now and Wednesday/Thursday, when most of you will be reading this.

By the time you read this, there may be some Christians who are excited at the escalation of violence in and around Israel. Those who pick and choose and convolute scripture to say that Jesus will return and we will be saved when such things happen are no doubt actually cheering these recent events. It is a depraved mind indeed that rejoiced in the suffering of others in the name of imagined future peace for oneself.

I am very concerned about what is happening in the Middle East. The area has been a tinder-box for war and aggression seemingly forever. Even during times of relative peace, people there must be constantly on guard.

By comparison, many of us, even most of us, live in relative peace. The biggest real threat to our peace here at home from day to day is an unexpected traffic jam or an irate parent at a little-league game. I fear we have been lulled into a false sense of security by virtue of living in this land of freedom and peace and seemingly unending opportunity.

It strikes me that throughout scripture God's people have equal difficulty living as faithful followers in times of peace and the resulting complacency as they do during times of war. Whether in times of war or peace, we all share a need for God to be more involved in our lives. He promises he will, if we will but ask.

People who are following Jesus are not rejoicing over war in the Middle East. They are, however, praying that God will make himself known there, as well as here.

Technorati Tags: current events, Christianity

Horse update

2006-07-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

In case you were worried, Barbaro is doing well. Assistant trainer Peter Brette says "He's doing fine. He's in a good frame of mind."

Do you remember Barbaro? He won the Kentucky Derby this year, and quickly brought up discussion that he might become the first triple crown winner in almost thirty years. Instead, he shattered a bone in his leg before the first turn of the Preakness.

They used to "put down" horses with such injuries. But not Barbaro; the loss of millions of dollars of potential stud fees was too hard to stomach, so some of the world's best doctors were assembled to repair the leg.

After this latest surgery, the article explains, Barbaro spent a night in ICU. I have visited several ICU's over the years and never came across a horse in a bed.

I don't want to know how many millions of dollars are being spent on this horse's injury. I do want to remember how willing we all are to chuckle about such devotion to the life of a racing horse while we complain at the cost to society of health care for people who cannot afford it.

I went to seminary in Kentucky, in horse farm country. Several of my fellow students had part time jobs as security guards for some of the horses. These horses, they told me, lived in more luxurious conditions that some of the people of Lexington.

I realize this is a capitalistic country, and the market "freely" decides what money goes where. But when the efforts to save the life of a horse, and that only so his owner can receive stud fees, make actual "news," that tells me something is wrong. When there are so many people who live below any reasonable standard of decency, I can't chuckle at the absurdity of these reports anymore.

Notes from JYMO

2006-07-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

I've been at JYMO (Jurisdictional Youth Ministry Organization) for most of this week. We are meeting at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana.

JYMO is a nearly annual youth ministry event for youth groups, and especially youth leaders from the 15 conferences that make up the Southcentral Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. Most of the event is for leader training. There are daily sessions of Bible Study and worship services.

The youth take a large role in leadership in JYMO. They do an excellent job.

I have heard several adults stress that this is a "youth led youth event." I infer from this that as much as possible the youth are to run the event. I will admit here that I don't really buy this theory. I think that youth have much to offer, and that adults should listen to what they have to say. I also, however, think that youth still deserve to receive the benefits of being led, directed, guided, and taught by responsible, wise, caring adults.

One of the daily events during the three days of JYMO is a legislative session. This year the legislative sessions have mostly been filled by elections to various positions.

Imagine my surprise at finding that two fairly vocal proponents of this being a "youth led youth event" were very carefully and clearly instructing the individual youth from their delegations on how they should vote.

Perhaps the youth of their delegations didn't know for whom they should vote. Perhaps they didn't completely understand the democratic process.

I was thinking that maybe it would have been more appropriate to offer to help the students make their own decisions, rather than to tell them how to vote.

O M G

2006-07-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

I'm still processing this, so I will respond more completely to it later, but I found in my email this morning something from the Waco District. Our Conference has decided that in September all our churches will unite in emphasizing the church's mission: MAKING DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD.

Incredibly, attached to the email were outlines for the sermons for the 3 Sundays we are to plug this theme. I won't even have to figure out what to preach!

Except for the fact that I am not going to use their outlines.

Unless the Bishop puts it out on podcast, in which case I'll lip-sync.

"Where are you from?"

2006-07-08T05:29:00.000-07:00

I am at a family reunion in Centralia, Illinois. Centralia is as close as anything I know to being my hometown. Does one have to have lived in one's hometown?

I was born in Monterey, California, but moved from there before I was a year old. I have moved 21 times since then, lived on both coasts, the midwest, and the far east. Between moves, once, when I was in fourth grade, we stayed in Centralia for about a month and a half.

When people ask me where I am from, I usually name the town I live in at the time. (Though sometimes I simply say "yes") Though I have only lived in McGregor for 2 1/2 years, I am now in a sense "from McGregor."

Jacob Heyduck came to the United States in the mid nineteenth century and settled in Centralia. My grandpa, Floyd Heyduck, as far back as I knew in the family, lived here all his life. My family visited here about yearly as I was growing up. Even now, when I come to Centralia to visit, I feel, somehow, I am from here.

I think that one difficulty a lot of us have these days is rootlessness. Good Americans, we are told, deny their heritage and the culture their family emigrated from. We are all supposed to learn English, but the English would tell you ours is a rather crude version of the language.

One quarter of the US population moves every year. For sanity's sake, some children disconnect from their families of origin as soon as they are old enough. Many do so for a variety of reasons on the opposite end of the spectrum from sanity.

In the face of this rootlessness, I have to think that having a hometown is a good thing. Even if one has never really lived there.

Everyone needs someplace to be from, don't they?

Technorati Tags: family

Standardizing Thrill

2006-07-07T05:52:00.000-07:00

Robbie and I visited 6 Flags St. Louis yesterday. The weather was incredible! I can't remember the last time I was chilled on a sunny July afternoon, but following the water rides, the air was cool and dry enough that I acknowledged one advantage the midwest might have over central Texas.

Being roller coaster fans, we were looking forward to trying some new rides. Since we both own season passes that are good at any 6 Flags park in the nation, all it cost us was parking.

We just walked past several of the roller coasters. Apparently the 6 Flags corporation can build replicas of the same ride at different parks more cheaply than it can design different rides.

As Robbie and I had decided that on this trip we would be finding local, non-national-chain restaurants for all of our meals, we were, perhaps, a bit too aware of the cookie-cutter, mass-production values of the theme park world.

One of the advantages of the national-chain-restaurants is they tend to carry a standard of expectation, predictability, and familiarity that offers comfort to travelers who might be far from home.

It seems to me, though, that theme parks, especially when it comes to their roller coasters, ought rather be offering just the opposite.

For more on the local eateries we have discovered, check noncon.

Middle America

2006-07-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

Life is just easier out here in middle America, right? I'm in Springfield, MO. for the night. Robbie and I are on our way to the great Heyduck Reunion in Centralia, Illinois.

So, this morning, since I get up way to early to rouse a 17 year old on vacation, I went and filled the tank in anticipation of driving another 200 miles and of gas not getting any cheaper.

As I pulled away from the Conoco station, I reached through my steering wheel to reset the trip odometer. Unfortunately, I did so as I was turninga corner, and my wrist got stuck in the wheel.

Since I am typing this, you can see that I made it out of that situation alive, and with at least one hand able to type. (My voice recognition software tolk me I was too loud)

Don't try to do too many things at once. Or at least, while you are driving, make sure your right hand knows what your left hand is doing.

New digs

2006-07-06T05:21:00.000-07:00

Check out the site toward which I will be moving, for a variety of reasons.

How do you like me now?

2006-07-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

My first real job was at McDonald’s. I know what some of you are thinking: “Man, I bet you got tired of the food there!”

No, I didn’t, and the purpose of this column is to explain why.

The McDonald’s at which I worked through high school and whenever I was home from college, was the first store owned by a new owner-operator. It was this man’s dream to eventually own more than one McDonald’s. Before my tenure was over, he owned three.

He ran the restaurant well. Employees, even high school students, were treated with respect until they earned otherwise. We each received a performance review at least quarterly and raises were a real possibility.

One angle of the theory was that it would cost more to constantly be training new people than to reward the efforts and commitment of those already trained. The theory proved right.

Much of what I learned working at that McDonald’s was basic customer service and business sense. If we took care of our customers, they would return. If we didn’t, there were plenty of other places for them to eat.

Much of what I learned at that McDonald’s I have translated into church leadership. Too many churches are for the people who have been there forever. When a visitor (or customer, if you’ll bear the analogy) comes in, he or she is treated as an outsider, as someone who doesn’t belong. When we are treated that way at a church, we usually don’t come back.

Though I learned a lot about people, about service, and about how a church can do better from a job at McDonald’s, that really is not the main point I want to get across here. The main point I hope you take with you is that a lot of people would look down their noses at a punk-kid flipping burgers under the golden arches.

Stereotypes can be a bummer sometimes, can’t th

Old is the New New

2006-06-24T06:23:00.000-07:00

The Trinty Church rises boldly among the steel and stone giants that make up the Financial District at the bottom of Manhattan. In this picture, can you make out the name on the street sign in the foreground? It is New Street.

I love the image! If there is no other, the Church ought to stand as a connection between the new and the old, between the world, even the world of finance, and the Creator.

The emerging church movement, and the positive side of postmodern Christian, make much of bringing the old into the new, or maybe, taking the new to the old.

For many years I had no use for the old, for tradition. Traditions, "we've never done it that way before" thinking, epitomized for me all that was wrong with the church.

I have grown up a bit over the years, and find myself more and more embracing the old, the ancient, even, believe it or not, tradition.

What's the most important part of comedy?

2006-06-23T04:51:00.000-07:00

Timing is everything. We went to the Gotham Comedy Club last night to hear the "Master's Show." Five comics, each with more than 20 years of experience performed. I was warned by our tour guide that they might bash Bush, especially once they found out there were Texans in the house.

Our tour guide also told us that one of the times she had gone to the Gotham, Jerry Seinfeld just happened to walk in. He had some new stuff, and this was the place to try it out.

No one famous showed up last night, but from the pictures that lined the hallway going in, everyone in stand-up has been there at one time or another.

New York City is a lot like Stand-up; it's all about timing. I learned that in the subway, Times Square, almost everywhere I've gone. I suppose this is true everywhere, but it is magnified here.

when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. -Galatians 4:4-5

This city grows on you.

2006-06-22T03:54:00.000-07:00

The city that never sleeps starts out relatively slowly in the morning. Everything is relative; If there were this many people walking the sidewalks in McGregor, Waco, or eve Dallas it would be amazing, but compared to the foot traffic of the afternoon/evening/night, this is nothing here. Here.

Yesterday morning I walked down to the UN building. I got there just in time to catch the sun peeking over its shoulder. On my way back to the hotel, I enjoyed the rush of passing through Grand Central Station at the peak of rush hour. I was looking for the S train to take me to a connection at Times Square. It was like no mass of humanity I'd ever been in the midst of.

The crowd was as one exiting or entering a stadium for the world champoinship, except that the crowd was moving. Fast. In all directions. U2's "New York" was blaring in my ipod. Not only was the crowd moving fast in all directions, but people were nearly seamlessly weaving past one another with barely any contact.

What struck me most, though, was that there was no interaction. I was learning to stop bothering to say "excuse me," which I realized is reflex for me. Just keeping, going somewhere.

The only reaction I saw was when a slight woman in front of me didn't quite get out of the way of a rushing man. He knocked her hard to the side, but, a veteran of the subway, she kept moving. The woman walking to my left was close to it, and let out a strong "Jesus!"

That was it. Only one person missed a step in all that, and we all kept going.

I am tempted to dismiss all this frenetic madness and movement with a wave of the hand under the heading of cold lack of caring. Perhaps that is unfair. Perhaps each of these people has somewhere to go, and the focus and drive to get there, no matter what.

The view from 35,000

2006-06-21T04:31:00.000-07:00

We have reached our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet on our way to Newark International Airport. Though I have been flying since I was too young to know it, I still enjoy getting a window seat and watching the ground and clouds go by beneath us.

I didn’t get a window seat this time; my daughter did. I can see the distant landscape from here, though, and it is beautiful.

There is something peacefully freeing about seeing the earth from this far up. It is as if problems, difficulties, even disagreements are left way down there. The land rolls between densely developed cities, clearly delineated farmland, and rough, untamed wilderness. But from here, it all holds one thing in common. It is far from me.

Yet, distant as all that is, I am in a plane that has not a single empty seat. I am 35,000 feet above all the cares and concerns of my life, of the world, and still people, each with his or her own story, surround me.

Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you're there!
If I go underground, you're there!
If I flew on morning's wings
to the far western horizon,
You'd find me in a minute—
you're already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, "Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I'm immersed in the light!"
It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light, they're all the same to you
Psalm 139: 7-12, The Message

Reflecting on Youth

2006-06-21T04:29:00.000-07:00

Youth will very often live to our expectations.

I returned Saturday from a mission trip to Oklahoma. I shared the floor of a church with about 120 other people for a week as we served people in the Oklahoma City area. Teams went out each morning to build ramps, repair roofs, and touch people’s lives. Each team had two adults and six youth.

One team in particular was interesting to watch during the week, because one of that team’s adults was almost constantly whining about how his kids didn’t know how to do anything, and that they were lazy.

This was my tenth youth mission trip in the past 7 summers. I have been on several different work teams, and in other positions of leadership. I have never before encountered an entire team of ignorant and lazy youth.

For whatever reason, it took me the entire week to realize that in this case, the youth weren’t the problem. The adult was the problem. I suppose I wanted to give the man the benefit of the doubt. I should have given the students the same respect, or more.

Over my 20 years of working with youth, I have learned that, contrary to the attitudes and perspectives of the older generations, most youth want to succeed, do well, be a part of something larger than themselves, and serve others.

This man’s experience with six youth for a week of mission work was exactly what he had expected it to be. In his view young people would rather be playing video games, surfing the internet, or sleeping than anything else. Laying that level of expectation on his team, they lived according to it.

The last time I was on a similar team, The youth took the lead in building a deck with stairs, replacing a door and frame, fixing two windows and repainting the entire house. They didn’t take a step without seeking my approval, but they took the initiative and accomplished most of the work themselves. They lived up to the expectations I had of them.

Youth will very often live down to, or up to, our expectations of them.

Are you tired enough to read this?

2006-06-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

I am writing this from Mustang, Oklahoma. I am here with about 130 other youtha nd adults for the 2006 CTCYM Senior High Mission Trip. Following is the devotional I wrote for the work teams for today.

How are you feeling? Are you tired today? It is Wednesday, sometimes called “hump day;” the middle of the week. We are halfway there!
Sometimes Wednesday’s have something happen that frustrates us. We deal with frustration and being tired in a variety of ways. How do you deal with being tired and/or frustrated?

How many of the 10 Commandments can you name? On your best day, how many of them have you kept?

A lot of Christians spend a lot of energy worrying about which commandments they have broken. Most of us are aware, nearly constantly, that we mess up. It makes us tired to think about how many times we have failed or given in to temptation.

Jesus was a rabbi, or teacher. The rabbi’s job was to teach people how to live the way God wanted them to. Each rabbi developed his own set of standards and rules for how his followers, or disciples, could live the way God wanted them to. The set of standards and rules a rabbi taught were called his “yoke.” If a disciple “took on the yoke” of a rabbi, it meant that he or she tried to live the way the rabbi lived and taught.

Jesus said “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Many of the other rabbis of Jesus’ day taught yokes that were hard to follow. They weighed their disciples down with rules and regulations that just wore them out. Then, along comes Jesus, teaching a yoke that is “easy” and “light.”

When you get home, you’ll probably sleep in a little extra for a few days. You may sleep all the way home Saturday. Soon, you will feel well rested. Life will return to normal.

Does “normal” for you mean daily worry about failures and problems? Does “normal” for you mean you worry about whether or not God really does love you and want a friendship with you?

Jesus’ yoke, or way of teaching, is meant to be easy and light, not to weigh you down. It can help with the kind of tired you can’t fight just by sleeping.

Coffee Club

2006-06-12T15:31:00.000-07:00

They asked me not to write this, but I’m going to anyway. I occasionally drink coffee with a group of men. I’m there once or twice a week. There have been as many as 9 and as few as 2. I suppose sometimes there is only one there, but that one has never been me so far, so I wouldn’t know for sure.

So far as I can tell, we have not settled any of the pressing issues facing the world. We don’t meet to solve problems or to create them. We don’t really meet to drink coffee. There are even men in the group who don’t drink coffee.

There is no expressed purpose for this group. Some might tell you such gatherings are a waste of time.

Yet on my way to and from this gathering, I inevitably get to greet several other people. Sometimes we’ll stop and chat. Sometimes I am reminded of something I need to do. Sometimes I am reminded of needs and burdens. Sometimes I get to share my needs and burdens.

Then, once the coffee is poured (and I always drink some coffee), anyone can bring up any topic. No one is in charge. No one gets to trump any one else’s opinions, stories, or ideas. Sometimes some of us try.

I wonder what the world would be like if more of us would occasionally take the time to sit and talk over a cup of coffee and not have to agree about everything. Not even the coffee.

Out of Order?

2006-06-06T04:06:00.000-07:00

I am one day into the annual session of the Central Texas Conference. So far, so good. There has been the usual mix of meanignful, informative reports, and droning monotony.

Overall, it seems there are signs of life and promise in this particular version of American Denominational Bureaucracy. Patience, my son....

One of the things that I have learned in observing and participating in this and other such organizations, is that Parliamentary Procedure, presented as a tool or process to assure fairness, can easily become a weapon wielded to opppress dissension.

Of course it is not presented as such; the intent is the orderly process of discussion and debate. The assumption is that because it is a process it is neutral, objective, and fair.

With modernity wasting away, though, and increasingly small number of folks expect anything to be neutral, objective and fair. We postmoderns do not accept that there is such a place to stand and judge as neutrality or objectivity. The real challenge of fairness is whether or not those in power are really open to hearing the opposition.

I find there is a tendency in our setting, in the Central Texas Conference, to hear opposition as a personal threat. One person I know was asked why he wasn't "a team player" merely because he disagreed with the opinion of his superior on one particular matter. Does "being a team player" mean never disagreeing with the party line?

I'll keep you posted as to whether Parliamentary Procedure is a tool or a weapon in our setting.

Are you really a Christian?

2006-05-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

“Are you really a Christian?” An alleged friend asked me. We were discussing whether or not “getting to go to heaven” is the primary goal for Christians to live toward.

I, of course, was against this idea. Jesus spent a lot more time teaching people how to access and live in the presence of God here and now than about where you go after you die.

This column is not about eternal destination, however. This column is about my friend’s question. Upon my disagreement with her on what is apparently a “deal-breaker” in her mind, she leapt to the conclusion that I might not actually be a Christian.

Had I any doubt about my relationship with God being secure, I would have felt threatened or, at least, offended. As it was, I felt pity on a person who had such a shallow grasp of the Christian faith.

If that weren’t enough, though, as I sat there on the receiving end of the doubter’s mind, I realized that I have spent many years on the other side. I admitted to myself that once upon a time I spent way too much energy doubting the salvation of others.

For those of you who might think I am digging myself deeper into the hole of liberalism or universalism, hear me out. I still accept that as Christians we are to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone. Many will not hear unless we tell them.

What I have come to understand, though, is that this good news is not so much about acquiring a list of things to believe as it is about getting to know a person and following him.

Getting to know Jesus and following him is what really matters. Having it all figured out would be nice, but have you ever had an earthly relationship in which you “had it all figured out”?

Are you getting to know and learning to follow Jesus?

The more I know, the less I know

2006-05-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

If you have everything figured out, don’t bother to read any further. Just tell everyone who asks that you didn’t need to read this column. There are much better uses of your time.

If, on the other hand, you still sometimes wonder if you really do have much grasp on reality, welcome to humanity! Even Bishop N.T. Wright, one of the leading theologians of our time, tells his students that he is wrong one-third of the time; he just never knows which third it is!

I sometimes provoke discussion on controversial topics by starting with the claim that “You ought to agree with me on this, because I am right!” On many of these same topics, I know my own understanding has changed over the years, sometimes even reversed itself. I handle this by saying “I am just more right now than I used to be.’

Honestly, one really can’t help but think one is right; it is impossible to make a claim about what one believes and believe it to be wrong at the same time. Therefore, my claims to “rightness” are really not egotistical at all, but merely an admission that I am, in fact, thinking.

The more I grow as a Christian, though, the more I realize I have yet to learn. Sometimes when I learn new things they fit well with what I have already come to know. Sometimes, though, learning new things tears down matters and patterns of belief that I thought were settled.

For the foreseeable future, I will be preaching Sunday mornings on paradoxes of the Christian faith. There are many things we don’t, won’t, and can’t entirely figure out. This used to concern me. Now I am ok with it, but I cannot rest from trying.

If there is one thing I know for sure, it is that we need one another to get things figured out.

Thanks, Willie

2006-05-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

I was appointed pastor of the Abbott United Methodist Church in 1995, and was there until June of 1999. I remember those years fondly. Attendance varied from 15 to 21 on average, and I remember being excited because we had 54 there one Easter.

We used to eat every Sunday after worship at the Turkey Shop, the once and future icon of the tiny town of Abbott. Abbott also happens to be the hometown of Willie Nelson, who grew up Methodist.

The Abbott United Methodist Church closed on Saturday, May 20. I and other former pastors were invited back for the service. The sanctuary was full, we sang together, and then we each had an opportunity to share memories of that place. Mine were all good.

One of the first things I noticed as we drove up was a "For Sale" sign with a "SOLD" banner across it, standing in front of the church. The Rev. Reed Justus, pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Hillsboro, who hosted the service, shared the fate of the building.

It has been bought by its most famous member, Willie Nelson, and will be preserved.

Thanks, Willie.

like it used to be

2006-05-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

“Remember back when you didn’t have to lock churches? The town was safe; people didn’t lock their houses at night. I tell you, the world is getting worse!”

Who hasn’t had one of those conversations? I catch them about once a week. Sure, there are things I miss about “yesteryear” or “back in the day,” but, let’s face it, we can’t go back.

I’m sure one of the reasons churches did not use to worry about locking their doors during the week was that they didn’t have thousands of dollars worth of audio and video equipment in them.

Here is the angle I hadn’t thought of on this topic. Since Churches used to remain unlocked and available, people could, at any time of day or night, let themselves in and pray. Churches are no longer available in this way. Is this contributing to the further downfall of morality and decency?

Should church buildings, especially the sanctuaries, be available for prayer and meditation for the passer-by, or for anyone who wants to find God’s presence?

My first reaction to this is to say that God is no more available in a church building than anywhere else. If the church has been presenting itself as the source and location of God’s presence, we need to adjust that.

A church building is not the location of the presence of God. God will (and wants to) meets you wherever you are.

On the other hand: Christians, we should take seriously that people around us somehow identify the place where we meet with the presence of God. Are we ready and willing to consciously carry the presence of God with us for others?

Things just aren't like they used to be

2006-05-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Blast from the Past

2006-05-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

Outside the AT&T Bricktown Stadium in Oklahoma City is this statue of Johnny Bench. As a catcher for 5 years of Boy's Club baseball in the mid 70's, I was a big fan of the Big Red Machine and especially Johnny Bench.

Thanks, Johnny, for the years of wanting to be able to do what you did on the field. While you're here, thanks also for: not running into the stands to beat up a fan; not holding out for 12 million a year because you refused to live on 4 million a year; and especially, for not pretending that being an All-Star Catcher and World Series Champ made you an authority on cultural and political issues.

What has God to do with Monopoly?

2006-05-09T05:25:00.000-07:00

Normally I am a free speech kind of guy. But this bumper sticker has me re-thinking that part of the First Amendment. It said, “Get out of Hell free!” then, in smaller print, in added, “John 3:16.”

John 3:16 does not mention hell or getting out of it for free. Perhaps the most memorized scripture, it says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

While I can see how someone could construe that bumper sticker from this passage, I don’t think it is a healthy link. The other clear reference the bumper sticker makes is to Monopoly, that great old board game that includes “Get out of Jail Free” cards. It is Monopoly’s version of a trump card.

The way the card works, in case it has been a while, is the player who draws this card on his or her turn simply hangs on to it until such time as it is needed. If that player is sent to jail, for any reason, he or she simply pulls out this card, shows it to the other players, and no longer has to go to jail.

I am really disturbed that what Jesus came to offer us is presented like this! Jesus intention was not to gift is a card to carry around in our pockets in case we are faced with hell someday. Jesus came to invite all of us into a way of life that includes God all the way, not just at the end if we get in trouble.

John 3:16 offers eternal life. Eternal life, though, is not merely escape from hell; rather, it is the opportunity to welcome God’s presence into our lives all the way along. Jesus himself said, in John 17:3, that eternal life is simply “knowing God.”

If you want to get out of hell free, play Divine Monopoly. If you want a life full of the presence of God and his love for you, you won’t need a trump card. All you need is Jesus.

They Are All Jesus

2006-05-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

Someone once asked Mother Teresa how she had the strength to love so many people. She replied that she loved them all because they are all Jesus.

Jesus told a story about the Kingdom of God that has the King separating people on the basis of how they treated him. Some, he said, fed him when he was hungry, visited him when he was sick or in prison, clothed him when he needed clothes. Others did not.

The ones who had taken care of the King hadn’t realized they did anything for him. Those who had not also did not realize they had skipped opportunities to help the King. Who wouldn’t help a King in need?

The King clarified. “Whenever you showed compassion on anyone, the least of all people, you showed compassion on me. Whenever you ignored or avoided them, you ignored or avoided me.”

They are all Jesus.

Our Church has just wound up a month of a food drive. We got word the food pantry here in McGregor was nearly empty. This was simply unacceptable.

Our Outreach Team created and oversaw the food drive. We had competition between Sunday School Classes. We placed tubs throughout the church in which people could deposit food gifts.

I thought about food drives I’d done before. I always contribute something because I always have plenty of canned food in my house that I will never use. Some of it I bought because it was on sale. Some of it I buy because I have dreams of becoming a cook. Some of it I buy, it would seem, simply to sit on a shelf.

That’s the stuff I used to offer to food drives. After all, people who might need a hand now and then ought to be thankful there is a food pantry. They shouldn’t be too picky about what kind of food is available, right?

If Jesus were the recipient of your “generosity” in a food drive, would it make a difference?

Free but not easy

2006-04-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Does receiving something free make it easier to accept? I think it might just make it more difficult.

I recently bought a membership to an online audiobook club. This site has hundreds of audiobooks available for download. Since I spend so much time in my car, I thought this would be a great investment. To make it even better, for signing up I received one “free” credit. I get a free audiobook!

That was almost a week ago. I have perused the site at least once a day trying to decide on which book I want to use my free credit. I still have not decided. Why is this so difficult? There are plenty of books available, and many in which I am interested.

I think the problem is that since I have only one “free” credit, I want to choose wisely. I want to get the most bang for my “free” buck. Who would want to waste a free pick on something that is not worth very much?

I began to wonder. (I always begin to wonder.) Does this indecisiveness have any implications for my life as a Christian? Yes, I think it does. (I always think it does.)

The problem I am having using my “free” credit is I know once it is gone, it is gone. I can’t go back and change my decision. Nothing else is free.

I wonder if some of us thing of the Gospel in similar terms. There is so much that we want; much that we know we need, yet we can’t quite believe that all God offers us in Jesus is actually free. Not “free,” but free.

Some of us, for instance, accept that God offers us forgiveness. Some of us accept that God offers us a joyful life. Some of us accept that God offers us victory over death. Some of us accept that God offers us healing for the wounds of our hearts.

But I wonder if we can really accept that God offers us ALL these things. We do not have to pick one! That’s what I call good news!

New sermon series coming

2006-04-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

If I told you Jesus was secretly married to Mary Magdalene, would you believe me? If I told you Jesus also fathered children, what would you think?

Most of you, I’m sure, would claim I must be mad. Some of you would accuse me of heresy and call my Bishop. Some of you would wonder if it could really be true.

If I dressed up such claims in a wildly popular novel, and claimed that though the story was fictional all the historical claims in it were true, then you would want to see the movie. It opens next month.

I read Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code a couple of years ago. It is a very compellingly written story. I did not want to put it down.

It is also full of historical inaccuracies and claims that have no basis in reality. That should be okay since that is the nature of fiction.

Dan Brown’s bestseller has spiked attention to what are called the “Gnostic gospels;” a group of writings about Jesus that make claims that diverge widely from traditional history and Christianity. It seems even the History Channel is buying into Dan Brown’s version.

One of the traditional Christian responses to this movie would be to boycott it. We could raise a ruckus about how persecuted real Christians are these days. We could organize protests and picket theaters. All of which would achieve at best a yawn from the unchurched public and at worst guarantee an increased number of ticket sales.

What if, rather than whine or complain, rather than loudly condemn the whole lot of “them” to hell, rather than shake our heads with disgust at “the direction society is heading,” we engage the culture around us. What if we take up conversations with these millions of people who, for whatever reason, are interested in Jesus but not in the church?

For the next four weeks at the First United Methodist Church of McGregor, we will be dealing with how we as Christians ought to engage culture. Paul calls us to “make the most of every opportunity.” There are huge opportunities before us. Are you ready?

Are there really NO stupid questions?

2006-04-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

This post won't be as organized as most, but I've got to write something.

I'm watching the History Channel's show "Mysteries of the Bible." This particular episode is about the Galilee of Jesus' day. I don't mean to seem conspiratorial, but here is a quick list of concerns I have over this show which allegedly deal with history.

Here are a few of points that have raised my ire and called for this post:

1) The show alleges that the Galilee is not at all like tradition has the biblical version fo the Galilee. Rather than a quaint, pastoral village, it was a bustling place of business, so archaeologists have found. The trouble is that the bible doesn't allege or base any claims on the Galilee being only a farm region

2) The point of Jesus' "render unto Caesar" story is interpreted as though Jesus meant to imply that his ministry is not at all concerned with physical, material things. The trouble is Jesus was speaking in terms of politics and graven images,not in terms of all things material.

3) The show makes a huge deal about the Gospels entirely ignoring the city of Sepharis, bigger than other cities of the era and region, alleged hometown of Mary, mother of Jesus, and "bigger and more important than Cana, where Jesus went to initiate his ministry." Scholars, at least the ones on this show, are stymied at this "problem."
The trouble is at least as John reports it, Jesus did not go to Cana to initiate his ministry. That was his mother's idea (John 2:3). While supposed scholars are confused why Jesus went to Cana rather than Sepharis, I have a pretty simple anwser: That's where the wedding was! I'm not sure what to make of the ommission of Sepharis from the Gospel accounts, except that I imagine it is not the only place in the Holy Land that is not mentioned in the Gospel. (Perhaps the Sepharis Chamber of Commerce chose not to market their town to the Evangelists)

The show isn't bad; but it isn't particularly informative either. It opened with a 1986 discovery of a ship from "about the time of Jesus." No particular claims are made from the boat or from anything learned therefrom, but it does give the hour long show an air of credibility. This show needs a lot more air.

The Real Me and You

2006-04-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

Why do we treat strangers better than we treat loved ones? No, not all the time, but most of us will say things to family and close friends that are rude, even hateful. We justify saying these things by telling ourselves it is ok; we can “let down our hair” with people we know well. With friends and family we can “be who we really are.”

“Who we really are” isn’t always very pretty. That’s why we learn early to put up a front, to be polite when company is over, to behave a certain way in church, and to say “yes, sir,” “no, sir,” “yes, ma’am,” and “no, ma’am” to people we don’t know. In public and polite company we act the way we ought to act rather than being who we really are.

Being around people who love us is not the only environment that brings out this notion of who we really are. When we are stressed, tired, or otherwise pushed to our limits we also tend to let down our guard and act out without taking the time and energy to consider what we say and how we act before saying and acting.

If you don’t see it yet, let me clarify: isn’t it pathetic that “who we really are” is something that we rightly hide in public? What does it say about our lives that we think it is usually inappropriate to simply act like ourselves?

By contrast, consider Jesus, whose crucifixion and resurrection we remember and observe this week. After having been abandoned by his friends, beaten by his enemies and hung on a cross, Jesus, at a stress level beyond my imagination, welcomed a thief into paradise, commissioned his mother into the care of a disciple, and asked God to forgive all of us.

At the very point that we would all understand Jesus getting justifiably ticked at everyone, he loved. I have no doubt Jesus was under too much stress and in to great a pain to carefully consider how he ought to behave in public. “Who he really is” is seen when we look at how he acted on the cross.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” - John 14:12

The Rule of Law? Really?

2006-04-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Is the United States a nation under the rule of law or the rule of emotion? Zacharias Moussaoui has been convicted and is currently in the sentencing phase of his trial. As I understand Virginia law, the jury will recommend sentencing, but it is finally up to the judge.

The goal of the prosecution in the case is to convince the jury to recommend the death penalty. I am not interested in dealing here with the death penalty itself (call or email me if you’d like to discuss that), but with the method the prosecution is using to guide the jury.

“America’s Mayor,” Rudy Giuliani was among the witnesses who offered testimony. Today (Monday) family members of victims of the September 11 attacks will weigh in. To my knowledge, and according to all the reports I have heard, none of these witnesses can connect Moussaoui to the attacks.

What each of these witnesses can do, however, is remind the jury how devastating that day was in American history. As if any of us can forget, the jury in Alexandria will be taken as close to those days of shock and confusion as possible.

Here is my concern: should Moussaoui’s life or death be determined on the basis of how bad 12 people feel about how extreme the September 11 tragedy was? Is the death penalty about severe payment for crimes that we feel really bad about?

Perhaps Virginia has some criteria for legally determining which capital crimes are punishable by death and which are not; most states do. Even if I support the death penalty, I surely don’t support it’s application for crimes on the basis of which ones most disturb us.

After all, they tell us the United States is governed by the rule of law. Unless, perhaps, it helps to make the jury feel really bad about something. Then it is ok to be ruled by emotion.

Whose Time Is It?

2006-04-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

I was finally growing up! I was taking control of my own life; just like Dr. Phil suggests. In the past couple of months, I have realized the newfound freedom of not having time for everyone who wants to make some claim on my life or my time.

I used to fall victim to anyone who happened to stop by the office, or even to anyone whose path I crossed who might want a “few minutes of your time.” It didn’t matter what I was doing or where I was on my way to, I was compelled to stop and listen and respond appropriately.

Until recently, that is. Recently I have finally realized that just because it fit the other person’s schedule to see me or stop me or want (or “need”) to talk, it didn’t have to fit mine. After all; I am as important as the next person! My time is as valuable as anyone else’s.

“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:22. They are me.

I am quite sure it wasn’t really convenient for Jesus to leave the Father’s side to come to earth and live as a human; to be betrayed, hated, lied to and lied about, mocked, and killed. Yet he willingly left heaven to come so that we might be welcomed back into fellowship with God.

Yeah, I’ve got things to do, places to go, people to see. But my time is not my own; it is God’s.

Hurry! Read this before it's too late!

2006-04-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

I received an email earlier this week that read:

On Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

That won't ever happen again.

You may now return to your (normal?) life.

Were you aware of that unique lining up of the numbers of time and date? Some of you quickly point out that this “clever scheme” is inaccurate because it leave out the “20” on the year. The brighter among us might point out that according to the Jewish Calendar the year is 5766. According to the Chinese calendar, it is the Year of the Dog, and I don’t know what number goes along with that (though I’m sure you would have to divide it by 7 to get the human year).

The email spoke truth; according to our calendar and time keeping methods, it will never again be 01:02:03 04/05/06. At least not for another thousand years.

The deeper truth, of course, is that the moment you just took to read this won’t ever come by again; not even after another thousand years.

What you and I do with our moments is always significant, whether or not the numbers on our clocks and calendars line up.

If God is for us, what can be the odds against us?

2006-03-28T09:19:00.000-08:00

Of the 3,000,000 fans who filled in the brackets on espn.com’s March Madness Bracket contest, exactly 4 picked George Mason University to reach the Final Four. (By the way, if you haven’t been following the tournament, GMU is in the Final Four)

Going into the tournament, odd makers had put 250-to-1 odds on GMU getting this far. As long as those odds are, they don’t even approach the nearly one-in-a million ratio from the brackets contest. I would like us to focus here not on GMU’s odds at making the final weekend, but at the lack of faith the sports world had in GMU’s Bomaking it to the final weekend.

We Christians are generally pretty good at explaining the good news of Jesus; that, in spite of our own unworthiness, God loved us enough to send Jesus to restore a relationship between us and our Creator. In theory we understand this. In practice, I believe, we do not.

My experience of going on two decades of pastoral ministry has shown me that most of us are deeply and profoundly in touch with our own unworthiness. We have no problem playing the “we’re all sinners” card if someone dares challenges us with perfection. We are so deeply in touch with our general failure, in fact, that we don’t expect anything to be able to overcome it. We still believe in God; we just don’t believe in ourselves.

From what we know of Jewish practice during Jesus’ time, if a rabbi invited someone to be his follower, it meant the rabbi believed the follower could indeed follow the rabbi. When Jesus called Peter and James and John and Matthew and the rest, then, he implicitly claimed that he, Jesus, the Son of God, believed that they could indeed follow.

In our minds, the odds of us following our Rabbi are far worse than a million to one. But let this sink in: if Jesus calls, Jesus himself believes we can follow.

I don’t know about you, but I will go with those odds!

Latest CTC Blogroll

2006-03-27T09:48:00.000-08:00

I just did this last week, but they're still flowing in! From now on I will keep this list updated in a Blogroll off to the right. Thanks for helping!

The Years Roll By

2006-03-24T08:40:00.000-08:00

As of today, I am technically the dad of a 17 year old. Who'da thunk it?

I could spend a lot of words on how fast these 17 years have past. I could reflect for pages on the changes God has wrought in me and the world since March 24, 1989.

Instead, one of the things that strikes me most as I consider Robbie being 17 is the difference between how I perceive myself as the father of a 17 year old and how i perceived my own father when I was 17.

I've asked several people this morning: "Do I act old enough to have a 17 year old child?" I've gotten mixed responses.

My recollection of my own dad from when I was 17 is that he was, and presented himself as, much more mature than I think myself to be. As I recall, my dad and I had a good relationship, but when I was 17, he was (sorry, dad!) old.

One of the differences is that I have spent most of the years since I was 17 in youth ministry. I have intentionally stayed more connected to the "youth culture" than my own father did.

Yet I cannot help but wonder if I seem as "old" to my 17 year old as my dad did to me when I was that age. I'll ask her this evening, and I'll let y'all know.

CTC Methoblogger update

2006-03-23T08:56:00.000-08:00

I woke up to an email from Mark Winter calling to my attention another Central Texas Conference blogger, Dale Schultz of St. Philips's UMC in Round Rock. Dale's blog is Together.

We also have Mike Ramsedell, Sr. Pastor at FUMC Mansfield, with a blog called, appropriately, Thoughts from Pastor Mike.

For a recap of the others, here is the list I posted a couple weeks ago:
David Alexander;
Johnny Brower;
Rick Mang;
Alan McGrath;
John Nader;
Mark Winter;
and, of course, me. But then, if you are reading this, you already have mine. :)

If there are any others out there, please let me know!

Socks II

2006-03-22T13:03:00.000-08:00

You’re not going to believe this. I can hardly believe it myself, and I was there to see it happen.

Of two loads of laundry I did yesterday, both containing socks, I folded and put away complete pairs of socks. No extras! No mis-matches! I must be living right!

I promise I was no more careful than usual in sorting laundry and throwing it in the washer. I didn’t carefully count out socks, match them, attach them, then wash them. I sorted laundry and washed it, just like I always do. I really must be living right!

I don’t really expect you to buy that the way I am living has anything to do with whether or not socks pair up coming out of the dryer. Yet, am I the only one who sometimes feels like the world does indeed work that way?

At least since Newton’s theory of the way the universe works we have tended to understand even God’s involvement in a somewhat mechanical way. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Thus, my socks matching up must have been a reaction to something, right?

In the days of scripture such a mechanical understanding of the way the world works was prominent among pagans, not among God’s people. One of the radical differences between the God of Israel and other gods of the times was that our God did not have a mechanical, and thus manipulative, interaction with the world.

Rather, our God had, and was interested in deepening, an actual personal relationship with God’s people. The God who created the world and each of us invites us to know Him, speak to Him, listen to Him. God is not interested in manipulating our lives.

God no more matched my socks this time than He unmatched them last time. Such things happen. Whether my socks match up coming out of the dryer or none, God still loves me; and for this I am grateful

Simply Amazing - so, is there a lesson here?

2006-03-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

If you see my daughter, don't tell her, but her birthday present arrived via FedEx this morning. She will turn 17 a week from tomorrow.

I ordered the gift by phone Monday evening. The FedEx tracking page says "Package data" was transmitted to them at 9:48 am on Tuesday. The package left Shanghai that day at 1:18 pm (I presume local time). The package was in my hands a little before 10 am this morning (local time)

WOW! When I placed the order, I was told delivery would take place within 4-8 days. It took 2. From Shanghai!

The second thought I had on the promptness of shipping and delivery was that the USPS could perhaps learn something from this company. It seems that I remember that FedEx's founder presented this business plan to the Harvard School of Business and was told it would never work. It does work!

The first thought I had was: what can the church learn from this kind of service?

Historical, not Hysterical, Perspective

2006-03-14T06:55:00.000-08:00

How large is your rear-view mirror?

I’m not thinking about your car when I ask that question, but let’s start there. All our cars have mirrors installed so we can see behind us. We cannot imagine, though, driving based only on what we see in the rear-view mirrors. We were taught in Driver’s Education always to keep our eyes moving, to be constantly checking our mirrors and the entirety of the view before us as well.

Can you imagine driving a car with more than half of the forward view taken up by the mirror? Would you be willing to attempt to drive a car that has only a rear-view mirror and no windshield?

Several people in different settings have said to me in the past several weeks what a tragedy it is that so many people today don’t seem to know anything about our history. I believe it was George Santayana who said that “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Last week a study was released that claimed today’s American citizen knows The Simpsons better than the Bill of Rights. Surely we are historically challenged.

On the other hand, it seems to me that all some people see is the past. It really isn’t that I am tired of hearing about “how things used to be.” But, since I am old enough to personally remember the 60’s and 70’s, I find it interesting that life really wasn’t as fine and dandy “back in the day” as some would have us remember it as being.

Are there lessons to be learned from our past? Certainly. I think it is important, though, to remember that the proper sized rear-view mirror does not block one’s ability to see forward.

CRASHed

2006-03-12T14:12:00.000-08:00

I saw Crash this past Friday night. Not only is it one of the most intense movies I have ever seen, I really enjoyed it. No, "enjoyed" cannot be the right word. Crash grabbed me and would not let go for quite a while after the credits had rolled.

Crash, if you don't know, is about race relations, stereotypes, and the tradegy we live in called the United States of America. Paul Haggis wrote a story that paints an unrelenting picture of urban American society.

I wish it was just urban society, but the tension and uncertainty between racial and cultural groups is no stranger to small town America, like the town where I live.

I found it interesting that Crash manages to portray none of us as heroes or above the fray. Unlike some "race" movies, the white people aren't the simple minded, prejudiced idiots while everyone else is whole and well-adjusted. Simple minded prejudice idiocy comes in all colors and blends.

For my "position" on race relations in the US, see my post here from January 17.

See Crash. Don't expect to be comfortable.

Stuff I am listening to.

2006-03-10T08:33:00.000-08:00

I'm getting all into podcasts... there is some GREAT stuff out there! My current fave is Erwin McManus at Mosaic. I just had a friend sign me up for Asbury Seminary's Chapel podcasts here. One of the best sources for insightful, inspiring messages, though not a podcast, is Rob Bell's at Mars Hill.

If you've found one I don't know about but that I would like, let me know!

OMG! what now?

2006-03-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

Since my Tuesdays begin with a group study at 5:30 am, if I am to hit the gym on Tuesdays I do so during the lunch hour. As I changed clothes to get ready for my workout, I realized I had not matched my socks early this morning.

Since I theologize everything, I couldn't help but wonder: why did God have me wear mismatched socks all morning? What was God's plan for that?

Ok, honestly, I really didn't examine the metaphysical or theological implications of my wearing socks that don't match. But I am concerned that some of you would think that way.

You very likely won't admit that you would ponder prayerfully over sock selection, but an awful lot of us Christians seem to think we are or ought to be robotized when it comes to those important "spiritual" matters. Many of us apparently think that God decides our careers, our lifestyles, and especially our mates, why wouldn't God be interested in choosing my socks.

Monday Morning

2006-03-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

I woke up asleep this morning. It had been a long weekend.

One voice in my head immediately began telling me “You don’t have to get up. You worked hard yesterday; you had a meeting most of the day Saturday. Roll over, go back to sleep for awhile. You deserve it.”

The other voice started out less clearly. This voice acknowledged that it had indeed been a busy weekend. This was not the expected workaholic voice, however. It did not start laying out a list of things I really ought to get done today. Nor did it begin to criticize me for thinking I could sleep in.

This other voice simply reminded me that my days go better, and that my life is both more productive and more peaceful, when I get up and get going.

I had slept long enough to wake up without an alarm. Though I wasn’t sure I felt well rested, I began to remember that on days that I just get up and start moving, within an hour or less I feel wide awake, totally alive, and ready to face the world.

Sometimes our spiritual lives are much like my morning started today. We think our two options are either avoid all the issues or jump in to things as though everything has to be done today. If we stumble, we retreat back under our spiritual blankets, roll over, and dream of starting again tomorrow.

I truly believe that what God has in mind for us is neither rolling over and ignoring life nor pressing ourselves to be spiritual redwoods by the end-of-the-day. What God wants of us and for us is that we simply give him this day, and having done that, we step into the day knowing we are not in it alone.

Some days we have to remind ourselves of this before we can get out of bed. This is going to be a good day!

Me and My Lincoln

2006-03-02T05:13:00.000-08:00

I didn’t need to apologize, but I found myself doing so anyway. Repeatedly.

I did some travelling and preaching recently, and to save mileage on my car I rented cars each time. Both times I reserved a basic “full size” car. Both times they were out of full size cars when I arrived to pick mine up. Both times they upgraded me, at no extra charge, to a Lincoln. Though Lincoln will always be my favorite president, I had never planned to drive one of his cars.

I mean Lincolns are driven by better, or at least wealthier, people than me. Who am I to drive a Lincoln? (I don’t mind telling you it rode smooter, especially on the trip to Amarillo and back, than my honda would have)

I spent the weekends with lots of youth and other “church professionals” all of whom seemed incredibly impressed that I was driving a Lincoln. They seemed a little too impressed, so I apologized.

Then I realized that I have always known folks who drove “nicer” cars. The ones I knew were always the exception to the stereotype, though; they were pretty much just like the rest of us. In fact, the more I think about it, the more generally that is true; as I get to know people, almost no one fits very well into whatever stereotype I place on them from first impressions.

Why are we so quick to divide people into “us” and “them”? We do it not just with what kind of cars people drive, but with favorite teams, accents, skin tones, hair styles….

Here is some good news for you: even though we seem so quick to stereotype and differentiate, God is not! Jesus said in John that he came not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him!

While we have a penchant toward prejudice, God would rather not have anyone perish. (2 Peter 3:9)

That’s good news; I don’t care who you are. Or what you are driving.

Heartless?

2006-02-27T08:01:00.000-08:00

I just received another of "those" emails. This one was titled "If you don't forward this, you don't have a heart."

I apparently do not have a heart; because even if I read the message and was moved by it, with a heading like that, I refuse to forward it.

This particular message was a heart-tugging story alleging that a baby was severly burned and that each time the email was forwarded the parents would receive three cents. A picture was attached. Nice touch.

A quick check on snopes.com separated fact from fiction in this story. Indeed a baby had been severly burned; hence the picture. The three cents her parents would pocket, however, was just plain made up.

Now, it is bad enough that people foward these things without taking the twenty seconds it took me to find out it was a urban legend. In my estimation it is far worse to title such an email "If you don't forward this, you don't have a heart."

On the other hand, that is indicative of the climate in which we live. "If you don't see things exactly the way I do, you must be evil at worst and an idiot at best."

It does not help matters that too often Christians are among the worst at this practice: “If you don’t agree with my particular list of religious assertions, you must be going to hell.”

Stop the hate. If you would like me to read something and forward it, just ask.

Daily Devotion

2006-02-23T04:29:00.000-08:00

I opened my Bible this morning while considering postponing the devotional time until later in the day. "No," I told myself, "just sit down, open it up, read something, meditate a moment, then you can move on."

I opened to Daniel 1. I really didn't feel like dealing with apocalyptic literature this morning. Why couldn't I have turned to a warm fuzzy, brighten-your-day kind of passage? Why Daniel, why now?

I picked up reading where my eyes fell to the page. Daniel was supposed to be eating from the King's food and drinking the King's wine. But as a good Jew, Daniel was not supposed to be eating and drinking that way.

Instead of raising a protest movement or even assuming the martyr position, Daniel approached the King's representative and asked if he could, rather, eat as his faith called for him to eat.

The Official was (fairly) concerned for his own life should Daniel's performance or appearance suffer from eating just vegetables and water. Again, Daniel's response was not to well up with self-righteousness, but to make a deal with the official. "Give it 10 days," Daniel suggested, "then decide what you will do."

God rewarded Daniel's commitment. Was it Daniel's commitment to the dietary laws, or his commitment to making the effort to work peaceably and cooperatively with the unbeliever. I think it was both.

Now I'm glad I opened to Daniel 1, and glad I followed through.

Lessons from a Funeral

2006-02-21T08:26:00.000-08:00

I had never before seen anyone wear a bandana to a funeral service. Yesterday, I saw at least three dozen doing so at the same service. Our church hosted a funeral service for a young man who did not have a church home. Most of his family and friends who came to the service were not “church folk."

Can I admit to you here that some of my first thoughts were “Don’t these people know how to dress and act at a funeral service?” and “Haven’t they been in church before?”

I hope I caught myself before anyone noticed such thoughts in my eyes, because as soon as I thought such thoughts I was confronted with the real truth of the Gospel.

My goal, our calling as Christians, is not to make other people look and talk like us. Our goal and calling is to help one another look and talk more like Jesus. Before I could look down my nose at anyone for not knowing how to play church, God was already convicting me for thinking it was about how to play church.

I am regularly reminded that Jesus spent a great deal of his time among those who were not only not “church folk,” but who had little or nothing to do with the religious institutions of his day. Jesus went to them, befriended them, and loved them; he didn’t buy a building and open the doors hoping they would come to him.

In fact, when I read the Gospels, I am confronted by the fact that Jesus has harsh words of correction and judgment for the religious people, not for those who have little or nothing to do with religion.

It isn’t that Jesus is not about lifestyle. It is that Jesus is not about my lifestyle. I need to continue to learn to be about Jesus’ lifestyle.

What are we to do?

2006-02-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

I am in a quandry, and these days the place to play out a quandry is online, so feel free to help me.

Our Conference, the Central Texas Conference, is facing a budget crisis. As we prepare for a 2007 budget to be presented at Annual Conference in June, the trend seems to be to raise the budget again.

I know there are a lot of worthy programs. Things are being planned that will bring with them the opportunity to change people's lives and build the Kingdom.

So, here is my quandry: it seems abundantly clear to me that the trend for receipts is down while the trend for spending is up. Unlike the US Government, the Central Texas Conference cannot merely make more money. Something has to give.

Since we are being overrun with oportunities for Stewardship training, the message from "on high" is clear: churches need to suck it up and give more.

On the other hand, CTC Churches already commit between 15 and 20% of their budgets to apportionments, and some think that is more than enough.

Please, please, help me. What are we to do?

The Difference a Little Light Can Make

2006-02-14T06:13:00.000-08:00

Father, forgive me, for I have grown up. At least I have grown up a little.

I have been confronted several times recently about the appropriate place of darkness in life. I am not quite ready to say with many that “without darkness we could not know light,” but I am now eager to admit and recognize that there is no life that does not know darkness.

When I was in high school, the band that played for a midwinter retreat played Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence,” which opens with the line “Hello darkness my old friend….”

I was incensed. How could some alleged “Christian” group sing a song about darkness being a friend? Darkness was the enemy of God. Unable to quell my rage, I wrote a letter to the editor of our denominational paper decrying all that was wrong with that retreat, youth ministry, and the church as a whole.

I have learned to see another side of darkness.

The times in my life that I have felt most in darkness turn out to be times of great opportunity for learning and growth. When my world seems dark, there really isn’t much I can do but wait and listen; listen for God to speak to me.

And He always does. We don’t always listen, but God will always speak. And when He speaks, He reminds us that Jesus came precisely to bring light to our darkness.

If you are in a time of darkness now, let God shine His light into it. Listen expectantly, and God will speak. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.” – John 1-5.

Superbowl Halftime report

2006-02-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

David Alexander reminds us of the greatest halftime show ever, and offers a link so you can download it and watch it all over again.

That said, here are my musings over this year's show:

The Rolling Stones make the Super Bowl halftime. Ain’t it amazing? Do you think anyone would have guessed in the 60’s that these guys would have been playing halftime at the Super Bowl?

It makes it even more amazing that one of the main reasons they were selected is that they are “safe.” After Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” two years ago, the NFL has been overwhelmingly careful not to let such a thing happen again. So last year Paul McCartney was the show. Now, the Rolling Stones.

While I am far from an expert on the history of the 60’s, I find it ironic that either McCartney or the Stones would accept the label of “safe” today. As I remember it, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones epitomized all that was wrong with the world just 40 years ago. Now, the same fellows represent safety, decency, family-appropriate entertainment.

Has society really changed so much that indecent has become decent? That what was once counter-cultural is now mainstream?

I first noticed this trend back when cable channels first started multiplying. Various Christian groups jumped on the opportunity to buy syndicated episodes of some older series. Some of these older series I remembered Christians complaining about when they debuted.

In Jesus’ vision for the church, I don’t think he intended for us to accept that “acceptable” today means “something from at least 20 years ago.” Rather, Jesus called his people beyond our lives being about some “safer” version of what the world offers.

I am not saying that Christians ought to oppose the Rolling Stones now just as many did in 60’s. I am saying that what is “Christian” is determined neither by pop-culture, nor by stands against pop-culture.

What is Christian is determined by what brings glory to God and what draws others God-ward.

Central Texas Methobloggers

2006-02-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

Here are the bloggers from the Central Texas Conference that I am aware of:
David Alexander;
Johnny Brower;
Rick Mang;
Alan McGrath;
John Nader;
Mark Winter;
and, of course, me. But then, if you are reading this, you already have mine. :)

If there are any others out there, please let me know!

How old is old?

2006-02-06T17:41:00.000-08:00

Did you catch the Rolling Stones' halftime show? While I am impressed that Mick and the boys are still in shape to do what they do, watching the show with some of my youth brought it all into perspective for me.

Halfway through their opening "Start me up," one of my junior high youth asked what the song was. I gave her the name of the song then started to ask if she didn't remember all the commotion of the roll-out of Windows 95, which was tagged to this song.

"Start me up" was released on the Tattoo You album in 1981, but may be more famous lately for its link to the Windows revolution that was Windows 95.

This youth, though, was only 4 at the time of that Operating System's release.

HOPELESS

2006-01-30T19:36:00.000-08:00

I literally did a double take when I read it. I use the Bible Gateway all the time for research. For whatever reason yesterday I clicked on the button at the top of the page for "Daily Wisdom." I found some, but not all of it was actually daily wisdom. Some of it reeked.

Sunday's was good. Brief, insightful, and an interesting take on the relationship between faith and works. Then I read Saturday's.

The title is "Is God All-Loving?" Not if you are the writer of this alleged wisdom. It claims, several paragraphs in, that "God's love and forgiveness are not unconditional."

The point is the old, hyper-Calvinist argument that God's love and forgiveness are only offered to those whom God knows will accept them, and that, thus, they are offered conditionally.

For the writer of that unwise wisdom, "God loves those who obey Him" and only forgives those who repent.

Semantically I could find a point on which to agree. One cannot realize the love and forgiveness God offers to that famous "whosoever" unless one turns and accepts it. How that can reasonably be construed as conditional on God's part is beyond me.

Join me in praying that Melanie Schurr, the author of this piece, finds the God of grace and God of glory who sent His son to die for everyone.

Conditional grace is not grace.

This week in history

2006-01-26T10:19:00.001-08:00

This week marks the 33rd anniversary of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade. This landmark decision legalized abortion on demand throughout the United States, though with some limits.

The subsequent 33 years have been filled with debate and frustration on all sides over this contentious issue. The Politics of Virtue, by Elizabeth Mensch and Alan Freeman, a book I read several years ago, contends that the Roe decision polarized the debate over abortion. So, while the Supreme Court supposedly settles matters, in this case, these writers argue, the high court only made matters worse.

That decision made matters worse, they say, but attempting to remove the matter from public debate. Though it seems amazing today, the years pre-Roe actually saw groups on opposite sides of the abortion issue working together to reach common goals.

What could have been the common goals, you ask? Both sides accepted that abortion as simply a matter of choice was not good for society. Both agreed that the number of abortions could be drastically reduced if certain steps were taken by communities. In some places, such steps were being taken.

Roe, though, made a debate out of an issue. As opposing political candidates and parties drew lines and caricatured their opponents, it became increasingly difficult to carry on a civil conversation from opposite side of the issue. Talking degenerated into name calling.

Now, 33 years later, this pattern of behavior has become the very stuff of all politics. It is rare that real, open discussion happens at a meaningful level on any big issues facing our society.

Perhaps it is time to set aside our penchant for villainizing the other side, whomever that may be, and listening long enough to find some common ground.

I will if you will. No, wait; that is the problem. I will, anyway.

Can I say this here?

2006-01-23T19:41:00.000-08:00

It is truly a shame the way we treat our high school athletes. It is easier this time of year to hear how badly we treat them. Basketball courts are much smaller than football fields.

For example, let a child (can we all agree that they are all children?) make a mistake, and too often a handful of alleged adults come unglued. Some parents feel free to berate their children right there on the court, in front of God and everybody.

I take some small comfort in young people having told me they can’t hear everything yelled from the stands. I hope they can’t distinguish any of it and only hear the noise. Then they can tell themselves it is people cheering.

Sure; if an athlete makes a mistake, or obviously needs an attitude adjustment, he or she ought to know about it. I think that’s why they have coaches.

Take basic basketball, for example. If a child travels, makes an errant pass, or, God forbid, misses a shot, the player knows he or she did something wrong. Do we really think they need to be reminded by us?

I remember taking a youth group to Sea World once. I was amazed to learn that all the training they do of the animals at Sea World is done by positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is when the correct or desired behavior is praised or rewarded and incorrect or undesired behavior is ignored or not rewarded.

I’d like to think our children deserve as much.

The Tale of Two Books

2006-01-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

It was the best of books, it was the worst of books.

Ok, So I'm overstating things. But not by much.

Last night I finally finished Jimmy Carter's Our Endangered Values. I only finished it because I wasn't fair to stop halfway through a book by a former president.

Here is all you need to know about this book. Imagine an aging Old School Liberal Modernist Baptist former President thinking that the classy way to rip the sitting president is to shroud it in the garb of a concerned Sunday School Teacher who between Mondays and Saturdays criss-crosses the globe looking for people to help come to terms with a outdated understanding of human rights. Yeah, that's this book.

I can't help but wonder, though, whatever happened to that unwritten policy that former presidents do not comment on or detract from the work and direction of the current president? Carter apparently thinks that doing so as a concerned Christian makes it okay. I think that just makes it even less classy.

I do have to give Mr. Carter some credit, though. If his reporting of the current administrations actions and attitudes is at all accurate, the U.S. has a long uphill battle to gain any respect from most of the rest of the world.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I have also recently finished Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis.

Bell is the founding pastor of the Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan. He is also the anchor of the Nooma series of videos that both well produced and full of attention-grabbing content.

The subtitle of Velvet Elvis is "Repainting the Christian Faith." Bell certainly does that in many different ways by honestly and openly looking all aspects of historic Christianity through the lens of a thirty-something Christian.

There are captivating studies of the cultures in which the scpritures were formed, and Bell fairly and cogently offers a fresh look at how we connect with them.

This isn't your grandfather's Elvis. But then, it isn't your grandfather's church, either.

In closing, there are likely many social positions on which Bell would side with Carter, proving there are some places one can arrive from different directions.

More on Race

2006-01-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

I got a response to my previous post that lead me to believe that perhaps I hadn't articulated things clearly enough. I hope this helps.

The point I hoped (and hope) to make is NOT that we cannot learn to treat others with respect and love regardless of skin color, but rather that even though we learn to so treat one another we do not actually and really not (physically) see skin color.

I read someplace, perhaps in Cornel West's Race Matters, perhaps not, that a black person is reminded daily, somehow, that he/she is a black person. Not in a negative way, simply a matter of cultural fact (if there is such a thing). So, while you and I can (and I usually do) think of ourselves simply as people, not as “white” people, black folk in our society are not afforded the opportunity (by society) to see themselves simply as people.

So, ISTM, and this was the intent of the column, the best way for us white folk to really, honestly, approach color-blind living, is to admit to ourselves and to others where it might matter, that we are, indeed, white folk.

(I have found it interesting that it was the “liberals” in the 60s who spoke of a colorblind society, but now it is the “conservatives.” I dare say you will not find anyone recognized as being on the left who uses that kind of language.)

Some of this, I now believe, is that minorities have (justifiably in my book) gotten to the place that they interpret the call to leave cultural and racial identities aside and let’s all just be Americans as a call to give up any cultural heritage that is left and become just like the white folk.

The Roman Catholics felt this way in the latter half of the 19th century about the public school system. From the perspective of the Roman Catholics, the secular public school system was teaching their children to grow up and be like the Protestants. Was this a recognized goal of ANY of the public school leaders? I doubt it. I do believe, though, that it was entirely fair for the Catholics to view it that way.

IN MEMORY OF THE REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

2006-01-17T08:34:00.000-08:00

I am a white guy. There is no denying it.

I was raised in an era that didn’t want to produce “white guys.” As I was growing up we were living toward the myth of a colorblind society.

I believed that myth for a long time. When someone told me that he didn’t see someone’s skin color, that what he was saying was that he didn’t judge the other person based on skin color. Then I realized some people had actually convinced themselves they didn’t see color.

Oddly, everyone I knew who claimed not to see color was white.

About a decade ago, I learned a valuable lesson. White folk in the United States can, and often do, think of ourselves simply as “folk;” no adjective of skin tone needed. Black folk in this country do not have the same perspective. In our society, black people are black. They realize this daily and are routinely reminded of it.

Apparently, we aren’t really all just “folk.” Or maybe we are. Dr. King said, in the midst of one of the greatest speeches in our nation’s history, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

I submit to you this week, in honor and memory of Dr. King and his efforts, that we have a far better chance of realizing his dream if all of us realize, claim, and accept our skin tone rather than pretending we don’t notice it.

I’m a white guy. There is no denying it.

Telling an old, old story

2006-01-12T09:51:00.000-08:00

If someone would have told me, I wouldn’t have believed it. But I experienced it firsthand, so I assure you it happened.

Last night I was taking our youth through the story of David and Bathsheba. When we got through verse 5, with Bathsheba pregnant, the youth were overwhelmed with what Bathsheba had done.

It took me a few seconds to collect myself and respond. This story wasn’t ahead Bathsheba’s wrong. It was about David and his abuse of kingly power and his lust. It wasn’t Bathsheba’s fault. It took me some time to help the kids to see that!

We smoothly moved on into a discussion about how guys have these strong hormonal urges and they just can’t help themselves. So maybe it does all always fall on the woman’s shoulders.

I couldn’t help but observe what a sad, pathetic assessment of males that was. It is even sadder to me that our society seems to have bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Pat problems

2006-01-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

Pat Robertson is at it again. Can he be stopped?

My friend David Alexander gives Pat the amount of space he deserves. I cannot be so brief.

I wouldn't care what Pat said if he weren't such a public face of CHristianity. Much as I would like to deny it, there are many people that think of Pat Robertson whenever Christianity is brought up. Thus, when Pat Robertson speaks, for many it is as if the entire church speaks.

What a buffoon he has become! Of course it isn't as though Pat Robertson is the only Christian who has become a buffoon, but most of us don't have our own cable television networks, so our occasional buffoonery is not as dangerous.

Last week I learned about an online polling service and wanted to try it out by making a poll inviting people to compare Pat with other notorious Christian buffoons, but I couldn't think of anyone on a comparable level!

Check this out!

Timeless Message

2006-01-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

Check out these powerful lyrics from a Newsboys song from their 1996 Take Me to Your Leader CD

Let it go
You are waiting on a beach
For a healing word to come
Maybe an apology in a bottle
Maybe a flare that says I'm sorry
and the hurting leaves you numb

will you forgive?
will you forget?
will you live what you know?
He left his rights
will you leave yours?
you don't understand it
let it go

You are waiting on a beach
This is where the east meets west
And as another sun sets on your anger
The darkness laughs as the wound destroys
and it turns your prayers to noise

Will you forgive?
Wil you forget?
will you live what you know?
He left his rights
will you leave yours?
you won't understand it
let it go

This bitterness you hide
it seeps into your soul
and it steals your joy
til it's all you know
let it go

Will you forgive?
will you forget?
will you live what you know?
he left his rights
will you leave yours?
you won't understand it
let it go

Will you forgive?
will you forget?
will you live what you know?
Beneath the cross
you hear his words
"Father forgive them"
and you know
you can't understand it
let it go

Growing up "churched"

2006-01-06T08:17:00.000-08:00

The American Family Association is so concerned about NBC's The Book of Daniel they want us to email NBC and contact our local affiliates. The AFA would like us all to join them in telling NBC that this show is not what we consider a favorable presentation of Jesus or the Christian faith.

Instead of jumping on the Boycott Bandwagon, I thought I would look into the show and what it is about a bit. Turns out the AFA assessment of the characters is pretty accurate: pill-popping Priest, his martini-slugging wife, gay son, and drug-dealing daughter, and my favorite, a “kum-by-yah, Jesus is my buddy” Jesus who pops up when the priest needs him.

Still, I’m not quite ready to write letters to everyone with a dog in the hunt. I wonder what the point of the show is. Ought we automatically assume the intent is to denigrate religion in general or Christianity in particular? I’m not quite paranoid enough to make that leap. (after all, my high school geometry teacher taught me what it means to ASSUME)

The creator of the show, Jack Kenny, considers himself a “recovering” Catholic. Dare any of us really try to deny there are people out there with legitimate issues from having “grown up churched”? The Roman Catholic Church may have finally learned its lessons about reappointing pedophile priests; I’m not sure my own denomination has learned that lesson about Predator Pastors. In any case, it took a civil court and huge amounts of money for the church bureaucracy to admit there was a problem. Now we cry when someone clever enough to write a screenplay brings it out into the open?

No, I tend to think that any religion weak enough not to be able to withstand a sitcom probably requires a rethinking anyway.

In fact, I hope Mr, Kenny can make peace with his past and with God; and if writing this show helps, so be it. Writing out our pain is very therapeutic. On the other hand, sometimes the best thing to do with such writings is feed them to the shredder and let them go.

What am to do?

2006-01-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

Question: How does one keep from making promises or assurances one does not know if one can keep?

Need a little more context? I was visiting with a person in a nursing home who sounded dejected. It seemed that this person's child had decided that she could no longer live by herself and placed her in this home. She was, reasonably, having trouble adjusting from an independent life to life in a nursing home.

My gut instinct was to reassure her that her child had her best interests in mind. I wanted to tell her that her child loved her deeply and that having considered all the options, determined this was the best one.

Trouble is, I don't know the child. I refused to promise her that I knew this had been done out of love and concern.

Well, wonder of wonders, not only did I hear from the child about my lack of support, but I was chastised for not supporting the decision. I was told that the traditional practice of active listening did not work with this kind of situation. In other words, I was asked not to talk with her anymore if I couldn't say things supporting the decision to place her there.

There are far too many people abandoned to nursing facilities because families don't want to deal with them for me to assume that wasn't the case here. I did not have enough information to offer any support one way or another.

I would be happy to receive your input.

Thanks, Guys

2006-01-05T07:21:00.000-08:00

Hook ‘em Horns! I am still recovering from a late night watching one of the most entertaining football games I have ever seen played.

Of course, it is easier for me to say that now than if USC had won; but this attitude is exactly what I want to write about.

After taking youth home, I sat up and watched quite a bit of the post-game show. All the announcers were effusive about the quality of the game and the competitiveness of the teams.

It was the interviews that got me. Every interview I saw: Pete Carroll, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Vince Young, and Mack Brown. In case you haven’t been following college football, that is this year’s three Heisman Trophy finalists and the coaches of the teams that were ranked #1 and #2 all year long.

What struck me about each interview was that each man gave credit where credit was due. Each of them recognized the strengths and abilities of the others.

It seems that so much of sports these days is shrouded in name-calling, blame-gaming, and excuse-making, it was truly refreshing to experience these top-caliber men speaking with character of the greatness of others.

There was greatness last night in the Rose Bowl, and it wasn’t just what happened with the football. Two of the top programs in college football showed, I think, what makes them great: molding teenagers into young men of character and integrity to give one’s all and to recognize and respect that others do the same thing.

Everyone cannot be a national champion. Everyone can, however, treat others with dignity and respect. We can, each of us, give our best, and recognize when others do the same.

Standards

2006-01-03T05:32:00.000-08:00

Did you miss Leap Second Saturday evening? We got an extra second just before 6 p.m. CST on New Year's Eve to bring the atomic clocks back into line with the solar day.

Here is a brief look into the interesting history of why we had a leap second added. Atomic clocks were invented in 1949, with the first accurate one coming in 1955. These clocks now measure time in terms of the magnetic resonance of the cesium-133 atom. I am awestruck!

You might be wondering why on earth a preacher would care about leap seconds, atomic clocks, and cesium-133’s magnetic resonance. Here you go:

I had always thought that length of time was about the earth’s rotation and revolution around the sun. Years into days, days into hours, into minutes, into seconds. If we ought to be able to count on anything, it is time, right?

In one of the leap second articles I read this weekend, it was pointed out that a day this year is 7.5 nanoseconds longer than a day in 1980. Stop the world; I want to get off!

Or, maybe we are looking at this the wrong way. Perhaps the length of a day or a year or a lifetime isn’t really at issue. What is at issue is our ability to measure things and the standards that we use.

Our measurements and standards as humans, no matter how atomically precise, no matter how much effort, need adjustment now and then. No matter how advanced our civilization may become, we will not and cannot “arrive;” we are always on our way toward better, more accurate, deeper, understandings and explanations.

The only constant, the standard by which all other measurements and interpretations will ultimately be judged, is God, the creator of the universe, and of the cesium atom.

Isn’t it great to know that such a God loves us and wants us to know him better?

Are you pulling?

2005-12-28T07:10:00.000-08:00

My daughter and I went for a picnic a while back. We brought the two miniature dachshunds with us. The day was sunny and warm; a perfect day for a picnic. Sasha and Lucy were excited to get to go with us.

We found a table in the park that happened to have a post nearby to which we could attach the leashes. As we ate and talked, I noticed that Sasha, the older of the two dogs, was exploring all the area her leash would allow. Lucy, on the other hand, pulled her leash tight and sat there looking at us.

I continued to look over at the dogs occasionally, and while Sasha was always on the move sniffing some new weed or something, Lucy kept her leash pulled tight. She didn’t seem to care what was within reach.

I suddenly realized I am sometimes like that. Though I don’t wear a leash, I know there are limits and boundaries in life, and I am the kind of person who sometimes pushes at the edges of them.

What’s more, I know that God has set limits and boundaries for us. Not to punish us or keep us from enjoying life, but for our own good. As I look back over my life, I have to admit that some of these limits I have pushed and stretched at, too.

The thing that struck me about Lucy, though, was how much time and energy she was wasting just sitting there, pulling at the leash. Sasha was sniffing and hunting and discovering with reckless abandon. Lucy just sat there.

Jesus came that we might have life, and have it abundantly. All the abundant life God wants us to enjoy is within our reach. Why pull and press at the boundaries?

Holiday Confusion

2005-12-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

Forget the gifts you got but really didn't want. Stop shaking your head about the gifts from a friend who you thought knew you, yet the gifts imply you've never met. The most perplexing thing that happens this time of year is the NFL Playoff Picture.

Yes, Virginia, the Cowboys are still alive! The phrase, "If the season ended today" ought to be stricken from the language. The season didn't end today. It ends Sunday.

Yet, for at least two weeks sportscasters and other prognosticators have been laying out various possibilities for the playoffs. If this team wins, those two teams win or tie, and this other team losed by more than 10 but less than 20 points, then YOUR TEAM is in! I got through two semesters of college calculus without thinking this hard.

Isn't it nice to know that there is something that isn't variable; that does not depend at all on what anyone else does?

God's grace, forgiveness, and promise of healing are more sure and certain than heat in August. God's love for us and over of salvation through Jesus are not dependent upon anyone else's wins, losses, or ties. In fact, the offer isn't even dependent upon your own actions. it is all at God's pleasure.

Isn't that good news!

Thoughts for Christmas

2005-12-19T10:39:00.000-08:00

My brother-in-law died sixteen years ago this week. Mike had only been my brother-in-law for 2 years. He died at 41 of a rare form of lung cancer. No, he had never smoked. He worked in the furnace room at a ball bearing plant. He left behind a widow and three sons, the oldest of whom was 6.

Mike was an interesting man. He had served a stint in the Marines, then come home to work at the factory. He kept a perfect yard and a meticulously clean house. When they hosted the family Christmas, every breakfast dish had to be washed, dried, and put away before a present could be opened. The family budget for groceries was meager, but they made it.

Since I was the preacher in the family I was the obvious choice to perform the funeral. I was fresh out of seminary and had never done a funeral, let alone one for a family member who, as far as I knew, had little to do with church or God. What would I say?

I thought a lot about Mike’s life. He was a gentle man more than a gentleman, and as trustworthy and reliable as the day is long. The quality I found in him that I actually found myself envying was his satisfaction with what he had. Mike worked hard and was frugal. He didn’t seem to have much. On the other hand, he also didn’t seem to want much that he didn’t have. As far as I could tell, Mike was happy and content with the little he had.

Saint Paul wrote a long time ago that he had learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself. I didn’t really learn what this meant until my first funeral, as I reflected on the too-short life of a brother-in-law.

And couldn’t many of us use a good dose of contentment this time of year?

To Worship or not to Worship...

2005-12-15T05:39:00.000-08:00

What is the world coming to? Even the New York Times is dismayed at the fact that some churches have decided not to have services on Sunday since Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year. A lot of folk are up in arms about this, suggesting that these churches have given in to the commercialization of Christmas.

I have to admit that I quickly jumped on that bandwagon. I was shocked and appalled that a church would cancel services because the regular day of worship coincided with a holiday – especially when that holiday was Christmas! I have read many of the articles and blogs on the matter. I have received more than my share of emails. It seems there are folk who felt the fabric of our society is threatened because churches, especially large churches, are forgoing worship services on Christmas Day.

I am still not sure I can make sense of it, but I have come to this realization: everything in the world does not have to pass muster with my own personal preferences and understanding. Dare I declare apostate those who refuse to gather on Sunday, December 25th? Not a chance. Ought I give my brothers and sisters the benefit of the doubt that they have thought through the issues and have made a careful and thoughtful decision that takes into account they people they serve? Would I not expect that consideration of them?

Even if we cannot pull together “Peace on Earth” or “Goodwill to all” this Christmas Season, do you suppose we could at least take the day off from criticizing and condemning one another?

Irony

2005-12-14T07:18:00.000-08:00

Just when you thought it was safe to impose democracy on a nation….

With the Iraqi election tomorrow, security is high. I heard a report this morning that a truck had been stopped in Iraq trying to smuggle false ballots into the country on the eve of their historic election. The truck had crossed the border from Iran.

Who do those Iranians think they are meddling in a sovereign state’s election? This isn’t the first report I have heard; I am sure you are aware of others, too. Iran has been trying to influence and manipulate the direction Iraq moves for years.

Can you imagine a nation doing that? What does sovereignty mean if not that a people has a right to self-determination? How can a nation be expected to survive, much less become the nation we want them to become of there are other nations out there trying to influence them?

Do you get the irony of ANY American complaining about things like this?

One Good Blog Deserves Another

2005-12-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

Johnny Brower is a friend of mine who also blogs. One of his latest, about treating the Bible as an "Instruction Manual" is well worth reading.

Hangers On?

2005-12-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

Can I share a problem with you? I know; this time of year we don't want to think about problems. We just want to think about getting everything done so when Christmas day gets here we can all join with family and friends and act happy.

As I emptied the dryer this morning, I was once again confronted with the fact that I have more shirts than hangers. Since I don't ordinarily have all my shirts clean at the same time, it is not usually a problem. Today; though, all my shirts are clean. For right now, some of them are laid over the back of a chair instead of being hung up. Please don't tell my mom.

Like I have many times before, I made a mental note to buy some hangers. (I wonder where I have left all those other mental notes?) Then, it happened. One of those radical thoughts I only like when it calls for someone else to change!

I realized that I have shirts I haven't worn in over a year. Even so, I keep them, hung nicely in my too-large closet.

What if, instead of getting more hangers, I gave away some shirts?

Whose Christmas is it?

2005-12-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas belongs to Christians. Even “Xmas” is of Christian origins; “X” is the first letter of the word “Christ” in Greek.

There is an awful lot of fuss this year about whether or not it is Christmas time or the Holiday Season. According to some, there is a huge movement to secularize, or make unreligious, the whole time of year.

Some of the debate seems fair to me; it is a bit extreme to try to sterilize from public discourse all reference to the generally Christian heritage of the United States. It is clearly unfair to public school students to attempt to deny them the freedom of religious expression.

What concerns me, though, is the great indignation many seem to have brewing over stores and corporations that have chosen to “de-Christianize” this time of year. Some preachers are calling for boycotts of such businesses.

In American society Christmas has increasingly meant more about shopping and gathering for parties than it has meant the birth of Jesus. This is sadly almost as true in the church as outside it. Since Christmas in our society is mostly about commerce and sales, it seems to me that Christians don’t have much ground on which to criticize or condemn businesses for doing what they think will most help their sales. If that means calling it “Holiday” instead of “Christmas,” so be it.

On the other hand, perhaps the trend toward the secular has crossed a line for Christians. Perhaps we are indeed tired of the commercialization of Christmas. Perhaps we have finally collectively come to the point of saying “ENOUGH!”

Or perhaps we really aren’t upset that Christmas has become all about spending money. Since the outcry is about buying from certain stores rather than buying as a whole, I think we are more concerned about cultural clout than keeping the holiday about Jesus

Do THEY think this way about US?

2005-12-06T09:05:00.000-08:00

Remember the exciting days of the early 70s, when the Nixon presidency was collapsing? If you don't, surely you at least remember the interesting years of the Monica Lewinsky scandal in Clinton's presidency.

One of I'm sure many things these two eras share in common was the too easily bandied-about cynical assessment of the situation: "They all do that; it's just that this time someone got caught."

In fact, we don't just say this of our presidents; many tend to qucikly slough off almost everyone's moral lapses.

Perhaps you have been following the story of Jimmy Finley. I worked an Epiphany with Jimmy about 3 years ago and enjoyed getting to know him. I was totally surprised by the allegations that came out last Friday.

In discussing the situation with a friend, the old "they all do that..." came to mind. I have been reading into the emergent church movement (is it a "movement"? That's a question for another blog...) One of the things I appreciate about that line of thinking is it is taking seriously the perceptions within our larger culture of such things as "Church" and "Christianity."

Right or wrong, fair or unfair, those of us who call ourselves Christian must take such perceptions seriously.

When an unbeliever or unchurched person reads the latest account of alleged pastoral misconduct, do they shake their heads and say "they all do that..."?

Isn't Christmas a holiday?

2005-12-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

I just don't get it. Oops, I think it is my gen-x-ness showing through again.

There are an awful lot of people growing concerned, even irate over the replacement of "Christmas" with "Holiday" in a lot of public and corporate settings. There are even groups "organizing" not to shop at stores that call the time of year "Holidays" instead of Christmas.

O, that life were so good I had nothing better to deal with than whether WalMart and Target called the season "Holiday" or "Christmas."

ISTM (which is online lingo for "It Seems To Me") that Christians ought to be more concerned about other things than what some corporation chooses to call the time of year. Or are we really so simple minded that, like Steve Taylor sung 2 decades ago, "We'll only drink milk from Christian cows"?

Should not we be more concerned, say, not to give any financial support to corporations that pay their CEO's more than 300 times what the lowest ranking employees make?

Lesson from a Monster Truck

2005-11-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

I’d like to think that as a driver I check my mirrors regularly. If I had, though, it wouldn’t have seemed that this monster truck appeared out of nowhere. The truck filled my mirror so suddenly that I actually jumped in my seat.

I was doing 40 in the left lane. 40 is the posted speed limit, and I had previously received a warning for driving over 40 on that exact stretch of road. I wanted to hit the approaching onramp, though, and there wasn’t space to move over and let the truck past.

The driver of the truck didn’t seem interested in doing 40.

For a second I felt like that big old truck was trying to intimidate me in my little Honda. I could see the driver’s eyes in the top of my mirror, and he didn’t look too menancing, yet I felt pressured to speed up or get out of the way. I was willing to do neither.

I didn’t get run over. I was passed very soon after entering the highway, but whether the police stop a monster truck for speeding is their business, not mine.

I realized I too often and too easily suppose that drivers of large vehicles intend to intimidate those of us who drive small cars. Surely some of them do, but it is unfair for me to attribute such motive to every driver of every large vehicle.

Then I realized that it isn’t just with cars, trucks, and traffic that this happens. It is easy in any of our relationships to attribute motive, to assume we know the thoughts and intents of the other person. Very often we do so unfairly. Too often relationships are broken and even ended for just such presumption.

I know I wouldn’t want someone assuming my motivation. I will practice, then, treating others as I want to be treated.

Afraid of God?

2005-11-26T18:56:00.000-08:00

Picture with me an auditorium full of college students gathered for a chapel service. The young men are all wearing coat and tie. Each of the young women is in a dress. They are quiet, attentive, and hanging on every word the preacher preaches. This was the scene as I was channel surfing one night several years ago. I would be glad to have such an audience, I stopped on this channel to listen to what the preacher had to say. His words made such an impression on me it is with me to this day.

My life and ministry are devoted to countering the poisonous message the college chaplain was delivering that day. Here’s what he said, “If you accepted Christ for any reason other than for fear of going to hell, you salvation is not real,” the chaplain asserted to a thousand eager ears.

People wonder why the church gets such a bad rap today! Paul wrote to Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and self-discipline (II Timothy 2:7).

I do not know what god this supposedly Christian chaplain was talking about, but it certainly is not he same God I serve or we worship. His god of fear is not the God who sent Jesus to teach us to live and love. His god of fear must not be the God who sent the Holy Spirit to comfort and encourage His people.

I do not lightly question the faith of others. I do not have a narrow set of requirements for what I deem “Christian.” I have no fear that I do not have all the right answers or that others may disagree with me. Why should I fear? The God I know is not about fear!

Sometimes nothing is best

2005-11-26T18:53:00.000-08:00

Let me pass on to you all some of the best advice I ever received. It was given to me in the context of counseling hurting people; but I have found it useful in many situations. The advice is simple. When you don’t know what to say, don’t say anything.

Whether sitting in the ICU waiting room with a mother whose daughter just died, or comforting young parents after a stillbirth, to listening to someone pour out the unfairness of life to them, our tendency is to try to offer answers. We want to calm, to soothe, to comfort. Too often we try to counsel so with words that pass blame to others. We offer up explanations for things we cannot and never will understand.

Instead of offering answers, hear beyond the questions. Instead of placing blame, share the hurt. Don’t think that some words must be better than none. Being willing just to listen. It is ok not to have answers.

Let us learn this lesson with Job: God is not at all offended by our questions and doubts, but we may not get answers. Humanity may have advanced over the centuries, but there is and always will be much we do not understand. Let us also learn with Job that God’s presence and blessing do not depend on our understanding.

You don’t have to have answers to listen to questions. You do not have to have solutions to share the weight of problems. Listen. Be there. Many times, this is enough. The one who listens never ends up with one’s own foot in one’s mouth!

Thankstelling v. Thanksgiving

2005-11-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

For what are you thankful? I know, what boring question to read in a newspaper!

It is Thanksgiving week, after all, and we are being bombarded, even accosted, by the same question: "For what are you thankful?"

But the more astute of you notice I worded the question differently: I did not write "what are you thankful for;" but rather, "for what are you thankful?

Of course the main purpose of my changing the word order is to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. Wouldn't my English teacher be proud?

But not only have I worded the question differently, I want you to take it differently. I don't want the rehearsed list of "family, friends, comfort, peace,
yada, yada, yada." For what are you REALLY thankful?

In fact, don't answer the question. Don't say a word. I may not believe you.

You see, we have a problem running rampant through our society that allows us to believe that saying something is enough. Saying I love you or I am thankful for this or that is all we ought or can do.

The tragic consequence is that if we say it, we think we do not have to live it.

So, this year, instead of telling anyone for what you are thankful, show them. Live it.

How does life fit you?

2005-11-11T09:32:00.000-08:00

I remember when I got my first pair of cowboy boots. We didn’t move to Texas until I was 13, so I didn’t grow up wearing boots. While in high school, though, I came to realize I needed a pair of boots.

I found a pair of gray antelope boots. Even on sale they cost far more than I have ever spent on a pair of shoes, but it was a good brand from a reputable store and the salesperson taught me something interesting for my feet, and for my life.

The boots didn’t feel right on my feet. They pushed at parts of my feet that weren’t used to being pushed at. They were, in fact, uncomfortable. As it turns out, the discomfort my new boots caused was not a bad thing.

I had never worn a pair of shoes with actual arch support built into them. These boots cost more than twice what I had ever paid for a pair of shoes, and apparently they were built like it. What was better for my feet, and therefore for my back, my posture, and my well-being, hurt at first.

We cannot doubt God would rather have us live our lives much differently than most of us live them. Perhaps you have tried to change the way you live. Perhaps making changes has brought discomfort.

Discomfort in life can be a good thing. It can mean you are living in ways your body, or your soul, isn’t used to. If you have made changes in the way you live because God has lead you to do so, I can assure you the discomfort comes from your having never lived as well as God intends you to live.

It wasn’t long before my boots became comfortable. I just had to keep wearing them. Don’t let the discomfort you live change your commitment to walking into the kind of life God wants you to have.

When is a game just a game?

2005-11-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

How do you know when you've got things out of proportion?

I was at a high school football game a couple of weeks ago. Just before halftime the quarterback was on the sidelines, and was smiling. I heard an adult not far from me say, "I wish I could wipe that smile off his face! Does he think this is just a game?"

No, I am not making that up. What a tragedy for so many adults who live their dreams of glory vicariously through kids.

What makes News News?

2005-11-09T13:05:00.000-08:00

Part of my morning ritual is watching Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” morning show. For those of you who think my watching this channel makes me a conservative, we will take that up in some other column.

This morning the show was broken into for yet another high speed chase. It seems a 2-door Saturn had run a stop sign somewhere in the Los Angeles vicinity and didn’t stop when a police car gave chase. Apparently a news helicopter was already in the air and had nothing better to do than follow the chase.

For the next ten minutes all that was covered on this cable news network was the gripping video of a Saturn speeding down a highway. As the camera struggled to stay centered on the car, various voices dredged up all the information they could about the runaway Saturn. They even found at least one man who was willing to speculate that the car might have been stolen, may have a hostage, for that matter, it could be driven by Osama bin Laden himself!

Unlike the rest of America, I had no interest in the chase, even after the great speculator told me what could be involved. No, my mind wandered off into what exactly is it about a “high speed chase” that makes it worth covering on a national, even an international, news channel.

I left before the chase was finished. I don’t even know who won! I don’t know what to make of an alleged news channel deciding to skip over the news of the day to focus on a Californian car chase. I do know that it is illustrative of how out of touch our culture is with reality.

It is too easy for us to get caught up in the immediacy of the moment. The “if it feels good, do it” philosophy has carved its way so deeply into our societal psyche that news is the event/adventure of the moment.

Life is meant to be deeper and richer than this! Live in the moment, but not for the moment.

New Tragedy, Old Question

2005-11-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

Why does God let bad things happen to good people?

The Reverend Kyle Lake, pastor of the University Baptist Church, was electrocuted this past Sunday while preparing for a baptism. Why would God allow such a horrible thing to happen?

From what I have read, Rev. Lake felt called to take the Gospel to people who were not comfortable with traditional church. What a wonderful calling! The institutional church has injured so many people over the years there is a huge mission field among those who feel they cannot be a part of traditional churches!

I think the Good News of Jesus will help us understand why bad things continue to happen to good people. It will also help us see why the opposite, and just as frustrating, also happens: why good things happen to bad people.

In creating the world, God desired fellowship with creation. As such, from the outset people were given the freedom and opportunity to choose to live in fellowship with God, or not to. How meaningful would a relationship be if it was not entered into freely?

In allowing us the freedom to choose a relationship with him or not, God also allows us freedom to live and move as we decide, not as he decides. Scripture tells us that God is “not willing that any should perish….” (2 Peter 3:9).

God gave up controlling the world that he had made so that we might indeed have the opportunity to choose him. Because God gave up this control, things happen that would not happen if God were running every event.

The real Good News of the Gospel is that in spite of all the things that happen due to our freedom, God has established that all who choose him can have a relationship with him forever; in this life and the next.

In Memoriam

2005-10-30T11:02:00.000-08:00

"At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this," she said 30 years later. "It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in." (Bree Fowler, AP)

Days that change the world start out the same as any other day. One doesn’t know when the alarm bursts through the quiet of morning what that day will bring. All one can do is face the day.

Rosa Parks died this week. When she was 42 she made history merely by not getting up. As she recalled later, she hadn’t planned to make history. It was, for Ms. Parks, “a day like any other day.”

She was required by law to give up her seat on the bus to any white person who might want it. She was asked to get up, and refused. She was arrested, jailed, and fined.

I am 42 now. I confess I don’t spend much time wondering each morning if I am going to make history on this day or that. I don’t expect to make history today.

You know how it goes. Sometimes we try to make history, or at least to have such an effect on people groups of people. I was talking to someone the other day who, like myself, has worked in different congregations over the years. This person was opining having received news that much of the ministry done years ago seems to have been undone since.

I encouraged this person to look not at whether or not the direction of the ministry was different, but whether or not lives had been changed. They had indeed.

Rosa Parks’ legacy is known because people joined in. But she didn’t act in that expectation. She just acted because it was the right thing to do.

Go and do likewise.

Are we yet alive?

2005-10-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

Someone told me once that God created high school football so there would be a halftime for the band to play.

I think this person happened to have at least one child in the band. I recall clearly that this particular high school didn’t have very high expectations of their football team. But the band was awesome!

One might reasonably argue that high school bands deserve more attention and support than they receive. One could certainly make the case that fine arts warrant a larger piece of the financial pie. To claim that football was created to showcase a band, however, is wrangled reasoning and loose logic.

Sometimes Christians have used the same kind of argument, however, in favor of heaven. Too often Christians have presented the perspective that this life is merely preparation for an eternity in either heaven or hell.

I was confronted in an interview for ordination over this very matter. In answering the question, “How do you understand eternal life?” I failed to mention whether or not I believed in life after death.

Of course I do believe in life after death. Why, then, had I answered as I had? Because I had long since refused to sell the Kingdom of God as something available only after death!

The Jesus I was reading about in the scriptures was the One in whom all God’s promise and future for humanity resided. This Jesus spoke relatively rarely about life after death. This Jesus, so far as I can tell, never once issued an altar call holding the fear of eternity in hell over his hearer’s heads.

This Jesus I read of (and was in fact getting to know) taught of the kind of life all could have in the here and now. He talked of, and lived, a life lived in the presence of God. He even had the audacity to claim that “I have come that you might have life, and have it in abundance.” (John 10:10)

When Jesus made this promise, he did not mention life after death. He didn’t, and I don’t, because Jesus came to offer us a different and better quality of life here and now; not just after we die!

I lived for years without knowing this kind of life. Like most people, I had good days and bad days, but the assumption was always that something was about to go wrong, or the other shoe was about to drop. The river running in the depth of my soul was the river of sorrows. This river bubbled up to remind me that “Life is just one dang thing after another.”

It just grieves my soul that so many people still live there because God wants so much more for us! Jesus said that he came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. Do you want abundantly more of the life you have right now?

I understand my mission and purpose in ministry to be to live the abundant life as much as possible, and to bring others with me! It doesn’t mean everything will suddenly go your way, but it does provide the peace and hope you may need to get beyond feeling like “Life is just one dang thing after another.”

Find the life that God wants you to live. God wants you to have the joy that comes from knowing Him now; not for us to muddle through this life until we can get to the next. He created us for this life, and created this life to be lived; not merely as a precursor for another.

Distracted?

2005-10-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

Time was running out and I just could not make it work. I was setting up to present a program on prayer. I had spent the afternoon going over my notes, praying for our time together that evening, and preparing a Powerpoint© presentation to aid my program. Now, as the women were gathering, I felt a bit rushed to get all the technology set up.

For some reason I could not figure out, the laptop refused to send a signal to the video projector. I tried over and over again the simple steps I had always used. At the height of my frustration I rebooted the computer, hoping that would clear up the problem.

It had worked the last time I needed it! Only a couple of weeks ago I had a similar occasion to make a presentation, and everything went fine. This time, though, minutes were flying by. Those gathering for the program were being friendly, and, frankly, I am not sure how friendly I was in return. It HAD to work!

Sometimes at this point in things I stop just long enough to mutter a prayer something like, “Okay, God, I need some help here! This is supposed to work! Make this work! Please?”

As it was about time for me to be introduced, I just happened to notice that the cable plugged into the back of the projector was not also plugged into the laptop.

While I have no doubt God could have made the laptop and projector communicate wirelessly and cover for my ineptitude, the appropriate action at the moment was mine, not God’s.

Sometimes we are so easily distracted with busyness we can lose sight of the little things, seemingly simple actions that make the big picture come together. In the midst of our distraction we easily turn to “god the vending machine” hoping for a quick fix from heaven. Usually the fix is up to us getting our attention in the right place.

Screwed

2005-10-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

Pictures, attractively framed, adorn the walls of the hotel room I will call home for these two days of meeting. As hotel art goes, these samples are not unattractive; one even claims my attention and draws me closer.

The print is neither signed nor named but welcomes consideration. As I draw closer I also notice the quality of the frame. My mind suggests care might actually have been taken in the decor of these rooms.

Then I see them. Two Phillips-head screws centered, one in the top the other in the bottom of the frame.

This picture, and now I realize the other two are also, is anchored solidly to the wall with screws. These screws were not designed to be on display, much less in the midst of art.

In my mind I smoothly segue to the unattractive things of life. I think first of how easily we allow difficulty, weakness, pain, even failure and sin to soil the otherwise artful appearance of our lives.

Then I thought further. (I usually do) The screws are not bad or wrong. The impropriety here is not the screws in themselves, but that they are visible and blatantly draw one's eyes away from the beauty of the art. The utterly mundane appearance of the screws distracts disproportionately from the art.

There is much in live that is not bad, wrong, harmful, or sinful that yet does not belong in the presence of art. Our culture has generally lost the boundaries between what belongs in public and what is best left out of view.Many things, like these screws, belong out of view not because there is anything wrong with them, but simply because their use is functional and their purpose does not include being seen.

Even if the beauty is only hotel art, can we not at least hide the screws?

Logistics of Ministry

2005-10-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

     I had a fascinating conversation last week with a man who went ashore at Normandy about a month after D-Day.  That was just a part of the story, though, of a young man getting whisked out of college into the service of his country.
     As amazing as every detail of the story was, I have to admit that one thing impressed me more than all the others.  As he spoke, I imagined the US ramping up for war.  The sheer number of people and supplies that had to be moved, dealt with, moved again, and so on was staggering.
     Having to deal with administrative things myself, I quickly thought of all the paperwork such a mobilization must have required!  I also marveled at how, according to his story, so many different people and industries worked together toward the ultimate goal, and apparently did so nearly seamlessly.
     Perhaps I was impressed with the logistics because earlier in the week I sat through (and I am NOT making this up) a meeting the purpose of which was to talk about how that particular group would be organized once we started having meetings.  A meeting about what to do at the meeting!  Worse yet, I don’t think we got anywhere in the course of the hour long meeting.
     The institutional church has become so bogged down in procedure and method we have too often and easily lost focus on what we are to be doing – reaching the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.
     I am convinced that the reason the US was able to mobilize for WWII so well was that we all had a common mission.  Everyone’s abilities and tasks were a part of the bigger task.  Each person did what he or she could do, and the combined effort was blessed.
     Would that the church would find her mission so urgent that we would focus on our mission rather than on the procedures or organizational structures supporting it.

May I Help You?

2005-10-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

“Have a nice day!” Almost every service-sector employee manages to finish a service call or sales session with this friendly, innocuous statement. In most cases it is as meaningful as the “how are you?” asked by an acquaintance speeding past you the other direction on the sidewalk.

When I was in orientation at McDonald’s, roughly 25 years ago, that fast-food giant was king of customer service. I learned quickly how much difference it could make for a customer if I, the immediate of the golden arches greeted and treated him or her with respect and attentiveness. Everyone I served in that capacity would be treated like they were the only one that mattered at that moment. Smiles were common.

So imagine my frustration at being told a friend would call ahead to a place of business I needed to visit. “Sometimes customers feel ignored there; I want you to be treated right,” she said.

If there is anything that disturbs me more than poor customer service, it is special treatment that comes dependent upon “who one knows.” I don’t want to be treated better than the typical customer simply because I am recognized or a regular customer. In fact, it seems to me that the better new customers are treated, the more regular customers a business will have.

Let’s move on from customer situations to the point of this column. God doesn’t treat people better or love someone more based on who they know or how many times they have been to church. God is no respecter of persons, Paul wrote to the Romans.

So, how do God’s people fare? Do we prefer those we know? Do we treat some people better than others?

There are far too many in the church today for whom religion is nothing more than a spiritualized “have a nice day.” What would the world look like if those of us who are the church actively and eagerly pursued serving the world?

Who Is Our Neighbor?

2005-09-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite traits of Jesus was the way he turned people’s questions back onto them. Famously, when the “teacher of the law” asked Jesus “who is my neighbor,” Jesus turned the question back on the man with the story of the Good Samaritan.

McGregor received the blessing of an opportunity to be neighbors to people who were evacuating hurricane Rita. I am told the churches of McGregor together provided home away from home for 292 people! Add to that the countless who received friends and family into their homes, and McGregor likely nearly doubled her population for the weekend.

I asked my church people, in a Monday morning email, how we ought to thank these evacuees for what they have given us. I ask the same thing of all of us.

I wrote above that we provided a home away from home. I believe we did. My
experience was that we did not just offer a place to sleep and eat, but we connected with people, many of whom weren’t really the “kind of people” we spend time with. The immediacy of the need, however, gave us the freedom to set aside those standard inhibitions and stereotypes. We made friends. Some of our guests indeed felt so welcome the stress and uncertainty brought by Rita was assuaged, at least for a while.

Many of us talk a good game. Some of us even send money to worthy organizations to provide services and support for people in need. But many of us would like to keep all that at arms length. In other words, we are happy to pay others to do it, but please don’t bother us.

I have yet to talk to anyone who was involved over the long weekend who considered anything we did a “bother.” What we received from our guests, our friends, the “evacuees” was more than we could possibly have given them. We received an opportunity to live as Jesus calls us to live. We owe them a big “THANK YOU!”

Capitalism and Values

2005-09-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

     The other day I found some old journals that I had written in the late 70s.  In one I lamented the demise of professional sports that was surely on its way.  Nolan Ryan had just signed with the Houston Astros for the astonishing amount of $1 million a year.
     There was no way society or our economy would support that kind of money being paid to athletes, I was sure.  How out-of-whack must our priorities be to pay someone a million dollars a year to play a game?  Something had to change.
     Change it did.  Million dollar a year athletes are no longer even newsworthy.  The average major league professional athlete makes more than a million dollars a year.  Many sportscasters are now in the same income bracket, which has cut down dramatically on their criticizing the out-of-proportion pay.
     My parents live in Arlington, Texas; a city that voted less than a year ago to spend $600 million dollars to build a stadium for Jerry Jones.  Are professional athletes and their teams/organizations really worth the money we continue to pour into them?
     If you are a good capitalist, you’ll have to answer with an unequivocal “yes,” or even a “YES!”  The market determines worth.  If athletes were not worth what they are paid, they wouldn’t be paid so much.  If it did not benefit cities to build stadiums for teams, they would no longer be built.  That’s if you are a good capitalist.
     Capitalism began as a moral philosophy.  Market forces would determine or follow what was right and good.  Thus, what people in the market pour their money and other resources toward, are therefore “good.”
     I think there is a strong argument for questioning the moral health of a society that pays professional athletes and their teams the way ours does.  But, on the other hand, arguing against such a system while continuing to support it with my viewing and spending habits makes me something of a hypocrite.

New Religion?

2005-09-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton have written a book about the spiritual condition of American youth titled Soul Searching: The Religious And Spiritual Lives Of American Teenagers. In their studies they found that most American teens live a religion they call “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” This “religion” is defined by these traits:

A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.
God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to solve a problem.
Good people go to heaven when they die.

Here is my question for you: How is this different from the way you understand and practice Christianity? When I first read these 5 points, my first thought was, “That sounds like a lot of church members I know and have known!”

I will tell you plainly, this is NOT Christiainity! For one thing, Jesus isn’t mentioned in or necessary for Moral Therapeutic Deism.

So, I ask again: How is this different from the way you understand and practice Christianity?

I'm talking, but is anyone listening?

2005-09-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

John Roberts’ confirmation hearings begin today. These hearings could give the United States her next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. I don’t know what the schedule is, but the event opens, of course, with the senators on the committee offering opening statements.

Perhaps I don’t understand the way things are supposed to work. To my mind, confirmation hearing would primarily be about interviewing the candidate. It seems, at least at the start, these hearings are mostly about each Senator getting to climb onto the pedestal in turn and pontificating on his or her own pet issues.

I have observed that it is a nearly ubiquitous human trait to seek and crave attention. As a preacher I know this. We as a profession are known for not easily giving up a microphone.

I even had one guest preacher tell me, as we were entering the service at which he was preaching, “I’ve got a 25 minute sermon. I hope they are ready to listen to it all!” I know I had told him that I usually preach for about 15 minutes. In his mind, though, the listening ability (and interest level) of the people did not matter; all that mattered was that he had something to say and the place to say it.

My experience has been that when people are not listening it doesn’t matter what I say. I know, for example, that I don’t listen just because someone is speaking.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we spoke in ways that encouraged others to listen to us? Perhaps if we did, we would all also become better and more willing listeners.

Is the Buffet your Friend or Foe?

2005-09-05T05:14:00.000-07:00

I used to love the all-you-can-eat buffet. It wasn’t just because I could eat as much as I wanted. It was about value, too, I told myself. The more food I get for the money, the better the deal was.

For a couple of years now, I have changed my attitude on these buffets. I have to face the fact that I can no longer eat the way I used to. I am not quite to the point of counting calories, but I do need to practice eating more wisely. Thus, I have avoided buffets most of the time.

Yesterday, as I walked past the buffet line at the restaurant where I ate lunch, it dawned on me that I have been abdicating my responsibility for self control. I was blaming the buffet business for my own lack of self control over what and how much I ate.

What I eat and how much I eat is entirely my responsibility not that of any restaurant or grocery store. I know what I should eat. I know how much I should eat. If I cannot learn to control those things, what in my life can I expect to control?

In case you haven’t caught it, in this story eating is both the issue and an analogy for every area of my life and yours. As adults we are responsible for our own behavior. We cannot blame the availability of options or pressure exerted by others for behaviors we choose not to bring into line with what we know is right.

There is still grace, of course. On behaviors on which we do not trust ourselves, we have the option of analogously avoiding the restaurants that offers buffets. It is often in our own best interest to avoid putting ourselves in situations where we do not have the personal inner strength and determination to make the right choices.