IT'S JUST TOM

New Life

2010-03-29T07:48:00.002-05:00

Not a care in the world.
I looked at my new nephew lying under a heat lamp (it was a lot more complicated than just a bulb). His birth occurring just a couple of hours before.
New life, a blank slate, a life filled with opportunity and hope for the future.
This reminds me of the new life that each of us have in Christ.
We celebrate Easter because it is in His rising from the grave, defeating death do we have new life.
Like little Drew, our new lives are filled with promise, hope for the future, but it also a life of skinned knees and broken hearts.
As much as Mom and Dad will do everything to prevent Drew from hurting, it will happen. And like most kids we Christians sometimes will stick our fingers in the electric outlet, finding out what happens to us when we ignore God's warnings about straying too far from Him.
But when the hurt happens Mom will be there, my Mom was there for me when I skinned myself up (shoot my sister was there for me in my 20's when I would come home skinned up from sliding into bases playing softball).
Like Mom, God has been there when I hurt, when I messed up or when my heart was broke. As I look back at my life God has always been there. I didn't always see it then, but I do now.
Perhaps we should look at our new life in a way that would honor our Father in heaven. Maybe we could see our new life as a clean slate, letting God draw something beautiful upon it. The only thing that holds us back is ourselves.
So this Easter as we think about the price that God gave to purchase us, the wonderful gift of new life, may we become what God wants our life to be.
That would be a life pleasing to Him.

The Haiti Question

2010-01-28T11:01:00.000-06:00

Why help?
Paul Shirley, ex NBA basketball player asks that very question. He sees Haiti in the same way he looks at a homeless man. Paul reasons that Haiti, just like a homeless man would not handle the gift he would give with any responsibility. He wouldn't really change; he would just spend the money on booze or something so why help at all?
And if I may be cynical for a moment, I’m sure as with most countries when millions flood into the country somebody is probably filling their pockets.
It’s an old game. We don’t have to look at Haiti to see that, we have that going on in our government, our places of employment, and sometimes it happens in churches.
Grab what you can get and if somebody else suffers, to bad for them.
What is really convenient for those who refuse to help because they see a wasted dollar spent really can ease their conscience. They will just waste it anyway.
And to be honest, I’ve past beggars by. Many that I see are young and healthy looking, at least healthy enough to have a job. Would they buy drugs or booze with my cash?
But in Haiti we are talking about something different. Contrary to what my brother Pat Robertson has said, the people of Haiti didn’t ask for this earthquake. If being bad or doing a stupid thing caused earthquakes, our entire nation wouldn’t stop shaking.
Yes they are a poor nation, yes perhaps corruption has led to them to ruin, and yes maybe they will never get it right. Jesus told us the poor will always be with us.
But that didn’t stop Jesus from helping.
In fact, let’s take it deeper. Imagine Jesus and God having a discussion.
God: I want you to leave your nice home here, become a man that will feel all the pain and misery a man will experience, have friends that will doubt you and finally be beaten and die for the very same people that are hurting you.
Jesus: Do what?!?
God: You heard me, I know it makes no sense, but I love my creation that much.
Jesus: Okay, a gift of eternal life. You’re going to give that gift away to people who will reject it, abuse it and ignore it. They are going to deny who I am and curse you. Surely you can find something better to do with a gift like that. They will just waste it! They will spend some much time worried about themselves that they will never follow you wholeheartedly.
God: I know, but I’m crazy in love with my creation.
This discussion is fictional of course, because Jesus knew all of these things and yet still suffered and died for us.
I’m glad God didn’t see us like Paul Shirley sees Haiti, a waste of time and money.
Many churches are on the ground in Haiti, but they have been there before the earthquake and they will be there long after the quake situation is over.
Because that is the example God has shown us,
And that is what He has called us to do.

You Go Tim!

2010-01-26T11:52:00.002-06:00

I've had it.
I try very hard to avoid political and sometimes cultural controversies, mainly because I want to focus on more positive subjects. Sometimes all of the arguing just isn't worth it.
It started with my wife telling that Tim Tebow was going to do a pro-life Super Bowl ad. No problem, I thought, it would be better than some of the ads I've seen.
But I forgot how politically correct we have become.
Now first I want to say that I respect Tim Tebow. I'm not a Florida fan, and frankly I just got tired of them winning all the time (especially since Illinois couldn't win this year).
But as a man, Tim is tough, he played in the toughest football conference in the nation and he has never backed away from his beliefs.
It would have been easier for him just to keep his Christianity on the down low (hip sounding aren't I) and nobody would have known.
But he didn't, he wasn't afraid of LSU linebackers and he's not afraid to state what he believes.
And what does Tim believe?
That his mom was courageous for continuing her pregnancy even when doctors advised her, because of an illness she had during a mission trip, to abort her fifth child...Tim Tebow.
Tim will talk about the cause "Celebrate family, Celebrate life" which comes from the Focus on the Family group.
Wow just think, a wholesome, encouraging, positive, uplifting Super Bowl ad!
Ohhh but hold on a minute.
The fine girls at the National Organization for Women have cried foul.
They want CBS to cancel this ad, why would CBS air such filth?!?
And to CBS's credit (which one can rarely say these days) they just don't see what the big deal is. Hey, Focus on the Family's 2.5 million is just as good as Coor's 2.5 million right?
The ladies are worried that the ad is simply to divisive, and contains a message that simply isn't respectful of others.
Hmmm.
You know if these gals were really worried about women, (and I don't really believe they are) maybe they would protest beer ads that portray women as sex objects, or all the other ads that show women that way.
But alas not a peep.
Just whining that a strong, courageous, and respected man saying simple and true facts might upset some poor gal.
This is where we are, but as I looked at some of the comments of this story (I saw this on Fox sports) I found that most people don't see the add nearly as dangerous or divisive as the ladies at NOW do.
Perhaps there is hope.

I have never liked thorns

2009-12-30T10:42:00.002-06:00

I looked at my old coveralls and sighed.
I had this pair of bibs for many years, they were insulated so they had come in very handy when winter came. Like a lot of my clothes they had become tighter.
I think our washing machine shrinks clothes.
Anyway, I noticed how tore up they were. The legs had many ripped spots and along with some holes from welding, they were looking pretty sad.
The rips had come from thorns, nasty sticky things I had stumbled into over several years of chasing rabbits.
I hate thorns because they hurt, they would rip my exposed skin and tear into my clothes. They make a nice place for small animals, but for a big guy like me they aren't nice at all.
In fact I wondered why have them at all? We can't eat them (as far as I know, at least I haven't tried to eat them on purpose).
Why?
As I thought deeper about it, we aren't equipped to handle them. Our skin would have to be a lot tougher to walk through them without getting hurt. Oh we can cut them and burn them but they show up other places.
Now that I think about it, we were never meant to live in a world with them.
As I recall my Genesis (the book in the Bible, not the band Phil Collins was in) God tells Adam this;
"17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
So before the fall, no thorns, after the fall...ouch.
We know something is wrong, we watch TV and see the pain that's out there. People abusing other people, death and destruction, injustice and corruption.
We know this isn't right, life isn't supposed to be this way.
And when the thorns hit home, when we have been wronged, or lose a loved one, or get bad news from the doctor, we hurt. It's not what we signed up for, especially if we are a follower of Christ. God is supposed to block the pain.
And then I remember it was the fall that created this mess, the choice to let God be the god of our lives or we are the boss.
I remember the line in the movie "The Princess Bride" (which I thought was a pretty good movie) the male lead tells the princess "Life is pain princess, anybody who tells you its not is trying to sell you something". Pretty good line and unfortunately it's true.
The fact we live in such a painful place should drive us into the arms of Christ, to know He died that we would one day live in a place where God would wipe the tears of our pain away.
I believe it is a place that is worth waiting for. It makes Christ's sacrifice even more special knowing that He loved me enough to offer such a place to me. I don't deserve it, but His grace and mercy are enough.
I have some great days on this earth, great friends, great family and good times. I have also seen and felt real pain. I have lost loved ones and seen others that I care about experience great pain in their lives. Being a follower of Christ does not exempt us from pain. John the Baptist knew all about that, but the best days are the ones that are coming.
I look forward to a time and place...
without thorns.

Joy to the world and get your hands off my Tickle Me Elmo.

2009-12-03T08:43:00.002-06:00

How did we get here?
How did the celebration of the birth of the Messiah of the world, our path to God, the one who has saved us from eternal destruction, into a one day shopping melee?
I had not heard the term "black Friday" before, is this new or am I living in a cave?
Think about it, we sing happy songs at Christmas, Joy is the theme, celebrate God's gift to humanity.
Then we scratch, claw, over spend, and end up hating the very holiday that we are supposed to be overjoyed about.
We lose the true meaning because somehow we always bring it back to us. It's not about God, it's about being at a store hours before you normally get up. That kills me, let's open our store at 3 am and expect people to be in a good mood! I see people get up at 7 am who are crabby.
Now I realize that not everybody goes nuts at Christmas, many get it. I also want to state that if you want to fight the crowds the day after Thanksgiving, go for it.
But...
If you find yourself ready to kill to get the last $199 laptop, that you want to strangle the family in front of the check out line at Wal-Mart, that you want to say or do things that would get you a free nights stay at the local jail, remember this...
It's really about our salvation, our freedom, our savior.
It's not about maxing our credit cards and finding the biggest bargains.
This was brought home to me at the community Thanksgiving service. I was asked to speak at the service and I talked about what we should really be thankful for. As man came up to me after the service, thanked me, and told me how thankful he was, he had been "clean" for 8 years.
You see Jesus had freed him from an addiction. He understands better than most what an amazing gift God has given each one of us.
That's what Christmas is.
Please understand I find nothing wrong with giving and receiving gifts, one of my biggest thrills is giving my family gifts.
I just want each one of you to stop and think about what Christmas really means.
You might find the joy we sing about.

Boundaries.

2009-10-15T09:29:00.003-05:00

"Stay away from the road!"
I can still hear my Mom's voice. Warning me to remain within the confines of our yard.
I was probably 8 or 9 at the time and I was pretending to be a football player. I was by myself of course so I had to pretend I was making incredible catches against imaginary opponents. At that time we lived on a corner lot, so their was a road that ran in front of our house and a road on the side. A garage created a wall on the other side, and while I had a huge back yard to play in, I usually played close to the house. Mom was in the house so I knew that if I needed something she was really close.
There was always something cool going on in the shop across the road. Guys would be welding and grinding on things, making cool looking sparks. Also I learned new words that Mom and Dad didn't use.
But I didn't dare cross the road. It would not go well for me if I did.
Now I will openly admit that I haven't always stayed within the boundaries in my life. You probably haven't either.
In fact, human beings have always had trouble living within boundaries.
Just think about Adam and Eve, they had a BIG yard to play in. God said here and no farther. Enjoy this place, but stay away from this tree, it will kill you.
We all know how that worked out.
Want a more modern example?
There are people who are paid to come up with a safe speed for us to travel in our cars. I don't believe they meet in a secret place and say "let's mess with people, let's come up with a speed that people will hate". Speed limits are boundaries that are there to keep us safe.
If you've driven very long at all you know people, for the most part, ignore these boundaries.
By ignoring them however does not mean they don't exist. I might say that I believe there is no speed limit, but that probably would not fly with a police officer.
As our culture evolves, we desire less boundaries. Think about television of the 70's, now think about television today. Are the boundaries different?
We keep pushing the boundaries farther and farther. We see what's across the road, and we want to be able to go across. It looks so good and inviting. Cool looking sparks and new words.
And we want a God that says, "sure, go ahead, I know how cool that must look. Just be careful." There are even those who claim to be God's heralds that tell people that it's okay to ignore the boundaries, God understands. They draw decent crowds because that message is so cool.
But that's not the God I read about in the Bible.
And speaking of God's Word I would be the first to agree that men have sometimes tried to set boundaries on God's behalf. The Pharisees did it, some do it today.
If I read the Word, I begin to see the actual boundaries. I understand that I haven't been good. I need forgiveness for leaving the yard. Jesus took the punishment that I deserved.
And now I'm a child of the King.
It's not that my desire to check out the cool stuff across the street has went away, but I know if I stay close to my heavenly Father, He will keep me and provide for me. He wants the very best for me. He has given me an opportunity to serve Him, to help Him.
I know I need to stay in the yard.
Because boundaries are for my benefit.

Transitions. Part 2

2009-08-19T12:32:00.002-05:00

I saw this one coming.
I stumbled across the web site of the Fort Lauderdale based Coral Ridge Presbyterian church once led by the late Dr. James Kennedy.
They were seeking a new pastor.
Before I get into this, I want you to know that I had seen Dr. Kennedy on the TV before. His neatly combed hair and blue robe stand out in my memory. To be honest I'm not sure I ever remember listening to him for very long.
This is NOT a slam on Dr. Kennedy, I have no doubt he was a man of God who led one of the first mega-churches in this country. He must have been a great leader. A far better one than I am.
What caught my attention was the man they hired to replace Dr. Kennedy.
Enter Pastor Tullian Tchividjian, a younger man who happens to be Billie Graham's grandson!
What I read about Pastor Tullian was that he was everything Dr. Kennedy wasn't.
The robe was ditched, Pastor Tullian didn't get involved in politics like Dr. Kennedy had. Tullian spiked his hair once in awhile, and had a little stubble on his face sometimes.
Now to follow a man like Dr. Kennedy would make most men turn down the church, who would want to replace a legend?
And of course there are some who are not happy.
Dr. Kennedy's daughter seems to be leading the opposition, circulating a petition (ah the infamous petition) for the removal of Pastor Tchividjian. From what I can determine the opposition is a very small group who are screaming the loudest.
What does this teach us about transitions?
We are creatures of habit and we are all unique. Coral Ridge will never find another Dr. Kennedy. He was a unique, special man of God.
But so is Tullian, in his own way.
If you read the Old Testament you will find that God would choose the right man for the right time. They were unique men, who had their good points and bad.
Sometimes we never hear the message that God has for us because we are to busy being upset by appearances or styles. We often are to obsessed with the past.
I truly believe God is raising up leaders of all ages that are not interested in style, procedure, politics or formality. They want to add to the Kingdom. They want to be Jesus' hands and feet.
And while you will be hard pressed to find anyone who would disagree with these important points, it seems we have a "not in my backyard" approach. You can do all of those things, but don't change anything at my place of worship.
I read something on Pastor Tullian's blog that rings true. All churches are dying.
Some are literally dying.
Some are exciting and glamorous, the latest of everything. But at their very core their mission is dead.
And some have taken up their cross and died to selfish desires for the sake of the Kingdom. They don't care about anything except for serving Christ and their fellow man.
I modified these, but in essence this is true. Until all of my silly preferences pass away and are removed will I begin to see what the gospel is really all about.
I'm praying for Coral Ridge. I pray for peace and protection from the attacks of the evil one.
I'm also praying for a willingness to change.

Transitions.

2009-08-17T09:49:00.002-05:00

I was nervous for them.
I'm usually not very nervous before I preach. God simply wired me weird, it doesn't bother me. This morning however was different.
My young people, two of my own boys and three others whom I have gotten to know and appreciate were going to play their instruments and sing before the church.
I was so nervous that I put the wrong license plate renewal sticker on the wrong car (don't let them tell you that you can't get the sticker off once you put it on, I did) that morning.
The story starts a lot earlier in the year when I opened the church to these guitar and drum playing young people. I didn't have a clue. I couldn't help them because I didn't know what I was doing. I needed help.
I called Brian, his church has a band. Brian could play guitar, and he loves working with young people. Could he come down and listen, perhaps give them some pointers?
Of course Brian came and before long that evening I actually heard music. I knew that Brian couldn't come down every week, so would he be willing to help if I brought the group to Mattoon?
Brian graciously said that he would. Our first trip to Mattoon told me something about Matt, Aaron, Bryce, Caleb and Justin.
They could do it.
I met Jeremy who can play just about everything (and really enjoyed showing the guys stuff) who had the guys attention. Brian and Jer showed them how to play the song. My guys listened.
What I noticed instantly was how well the listened. Aaron struggled at first with what Jer showed him, but it wasn't long before it sounded good. Justin listened as Danelle showed him how to play chords on a keyboard. Brian worked with Matt on the rhythm guitar and vocals. Jer really shined when showing Bryce and Caleb some guitar riffs. I think they both were awestruck.
In fact Bryce sat down on his amp (which he does a lot) and kept practicing. I don't think my guys wanted to leave.
Fast forward, and a few more trips to Mattoon, meeting and practicing at the church, bringing Pastor Kenny in to help with some traditional songs as well as keeping us from blowing people away by being to loud. Katie showed up one night to listen to the guys practice. I put her behind a microphone. It worked.
Finally Pastor Kenny declared they were ready. How far they had come.
And when the day arrived for them to lead the worship, I was nervous. Would they hit the notes and chords? How would the church receive them?
It was great.
It was more than great, the church loved it. I loved it.
All of that to say this. When a church takes a step in a different direction, there is a transition. That scares some church goers because it means change. Sometimes change brings friction. Through this I learned some valuable lessons.
Take small steps.
Stay positive.
Build excitement.
Do it well.
Get help from people who have been there.
Well now the challenge for us is doing it again, because it went so well.
"Brian, have you got a Tuesday night free?"

C4, Connection & Christ

2009-06-26T13:23:00.002-05:00

It's on the screen every week.
C4= Christ, Connection, Community, Creativity.
I want to write today about connection, but in a little different light.
We usually talk about connection with each other in the church and also form connections (or relationships) outside the church. All good stuff.
But I think one connection we don't talk about much is our connection with Christ.
I had a thought the other day (granted that doesn't happen often). Do we base our connection with Christ on 1 hour a week on Sunday?
I mean, is the highlight of our Christian walk every week merely 60 minutes on Sunday?
Think about this, for 1 hour out of 168 per week we connect with Christ. And that's if we come to church on Sunday!
Perhaps that why when changes come to some churches, the fur begins to fly. We don't want the pinnacle of our Christian experience messed with.
Sometimes pastors make it worse. We develop programs, gimmicks, light shows, whatever, so that people can connect with the church.
Shouldn't our churches help people connect with Christ? Shouldn't our worship services, classes, small groups, whatever, help people connect with Christ?
And not only connect with Christ for 1 hour a week, but every waking hour we have.
The church isn't a building, it's us. Christ is working outside the walls (believe it or not) of our churches. Are we connecting with Christ out there?
Christ is working in our churches too, but sometimes we demand that it's on our terms. We seem to connect when the church does things we like, because as everyone knows Jesus likes the things we like, and He hates the stuff we hate (that is sarcasm).
Discipleship is more than learning to read our Bible, and learning to pray. Don't get me wrong, that is VERY important. But discipleship is more than that, it is connecting with Christ on the journey. It is rolling up our sleeves, and connecting with Christ in the marketplace. It is our life, not a place and a time every Sunday.
Many people in Jesus' time knew who Jesus was. Many followed Him, for awhile. Some stayed and connected with Him however, and the world has never been the same.
Would our communities be different if we connected with Christ in His work to show His love for people? Would our churches be different if we used that time to worship Christ because of our connection with Him the other hours of our week?
And lastly, would our lives have more purpose and meaning when we connect, not only with the church, but Christ Himself?
Something to think about.

Jon & Kate Make A Mess

2009-05-28T15:31:00.003-05:00

It was annoying to say the least.
I was trying to sleep and my wife was watching this latest reality television show.
In the background I heard kids crying for at least 15 minutes. If I wanted to hear that I would have had more of my own kids.
Not to mention the non-stop whining they both did. You wanted kids right?
Now I know the latest craze is having 8 kids all at once(looks like "octo mom" is in line next), and then telling the world how tough it is, get yourself your own show. Stick a camera in your kid's face, complain your spouse isn't doing enough. Let the world come on in. Then travel around the country talking about your new found fame (at the expense of spending time with your 8 little gold mines).
I guess it beats working.
Now I see that both of them are denying affairs. They are both upset at the tabloids.
I thought Jon and Kate liked attention.
I have to admit I'm wondering if the divorce talk is just to pull in ratings.
The tragedy here is that families have enough struggles without adding fame into the mix.
What happens if they do get divorced? Will their greed and desire for fame harm the very children they claim to care about? You know the answer to that.
No I don't walk in their shoes. I don't know their life.
I know this, what they are about to lose isn't worth what they have gained.
So my free advice to Jon and Kate;
Jon, be the family protector and tell TLC to get out of your family's life. Protect your family like a pit bull on a bad day. That's YOUR job.
Kate, stop whining about everything and decide what you want. To be a wife and mom or be a star. It's not working being both. Frankly, without Jon and the kids your star power is a little dim.
I'm praying they keep it together.
But our culture is so "me" anymore, so starved for attention, we so desire to be the victim in everything that doesn't work the way we want it to.
It just easier to throw our hands up and quit.
Who knows maybe that will get them a spot on Dr Phil.
Hmmmm.

Why?

2009-05-27T09:06:00.002-05:00

I had waited on George several times.
He worked for a gravel pit and he was a very nice guy.
He never got really worked up, and he had a pleasant personality.
And last week he killed himself.
Of all the people I would have thought might do something like this, George would have been the last on the list.
What was it? Did he have an addiction, a terminal illness? Did he live without hope?
I've had the "why" thought about a lot of things lately.
Kids bringing guns to school, parents killing their own kids, normal looking people who do horrible things to others.
Why?
Has the longing in people souls become such an abyss? Are we as a society coming to a point where we will do anything to satisfy a thirst for something?
The answer is that people sometimes buy false goods. Satan hates God and everything He has created. That means he hates us.
To destroy us he has to tell us that there is no hope, that only extreme measures will bring an end to that hopeless feeling. Killing and harming others or ourselves will put us in control of the situation.
It's a win-win for Satan, he destroys lives and hurts God.
There is always hope. If we have Christ that hope becomes eternal.
How many more "Georges" are out there? How many have lost hope? How many will destroy their lives trying to find life?
We have the answer to the hurt.
Will we share it?

Moral Bearings?

2009-04-21T12:54:00.002-05:00

Excuse me?
I'm reading this article, just trying to keep up. Trying to be an informed citizen.
I discovered that President Obama is open to prosecuting those who may have been responsible for coming up with waterboarding and other forms of torture.
That in itself is pretty scary, but what he said next sent a chill up my spine.
That the United States has "lost its moral bearings" with use of the tactics.
I'm sorry did he say "lost its moral bearings"?
So I'm thinking, have we lost our moral bearings by killing unborn children?
Have we lost our moral bearings by filling the airwaves with filth?
Have we lost our moral bearings by spending so much money our great, great grandchildren will have to pay for the stupidity of others?
Have we lost our moral bearings by eliminating God from the public arena?
Have we lost our moral bearings by publishing smut and calling it art?
Have we lost our moral bearings when we reward those who are able to work, but simply decide not to?
Did we lose our moral bearings when Terry Schiavo was unplugged?
You see Mr. President, when you say something like this, it's a slippery slope. What your saying is that your moral bearing is selective. For example, torture bad, but abortion okay. Don't waterboard a terrorist, but please rid us of those pesky Ten Commandments.
I guess a moral bearing is selective, maybe even relative.
It's good to despise evil, as long as it's an evil we aren't doing or enjoying the benefit derived from an evil. I mean doesn't it say something when people care more about a baby seal getting whacked than a human baby being aborted?
Now before I get labeled a right wing potential terrorist by our new head of Homeland Security, I want to state that both political parties have been suffering from a whacked out moral compass for quite some time. The only compass I think our leaders look at is the one that gets them the most attention and the most money. Got to keep ourselves on the cover of Newsweek you know!
I long for the day when the leaders of our nation, our states, and our churches stop trying to make everyone happy and just say it like it is, then live their convictions.
I truly believe, and maybe I'm wrong, that the majority of Americans are good, moral people who simply aren't paid attention to. It seems the attention is being focused on the fringe groups who yell and scream the loudest, the ones breaking the law to make their points.
I have a dream...maybe one day.

Things I don't get...Part 2

2009-02-24T07:51:00.003-06:00

Ok, here we go...

1. Where did they come up with the idea of using a little guy pretending to be Scottish whipping people with a metal dipstick and calling everybody "Jimmy"? That's supposed to sell more oil?
2. I saw where our President says he's going to cut the deficit in half at the end of his first term. Wait a minute, didn't he just spend a bunch of money? I know in my checkbook the more I spend the BIGGER my debt becomes. Maybe I missed something in economics class.
3. Gas prices (see my first list..I still don't get it)
4. How they get that kid on the E-trade commercials to do what he does. If I could figure that out I'd have LOTS of fun using our church's projector.
5. What happened to Taylor Hicks? (Since we look so much alike).
6. Why don't the Dodgers just sign Manny and get it over with?
7. McDonalds now offers apple slices as a side. That's like eating a fried chicken with a diet Coke.
8. Women who have little dogs in their purses. Dogs leak ladies, think about it.
9. Why I wasn't born closer to the ocean (okay I really know why, but it doesn't make it easier).
10. Facebook, I'm mean it's great to see different people, but then what do you do?!?
There you go..enjoy!

2009, The Year of the Apology or Can I get a Do Over?

2009-02-20T07:45:00.002-06:00

I'm sorry.
Well I'm not sure I did anything, but I'm trying to be relevant in today's society.
As far as I know, I have heard apologies from, baseball players, elected officials, coaches, stock brokers, both honest and dishonest, CEO's, and a certain swimmer, the list just keeps on going.
What does this tell us?
First, we have become more self-focused. It's about us, our money pile, our ego, our legacy, our greed. Get what you can for yourself and who cares about anyone else.
For the most part you can get away with that, but even that isn't enough. People see a blurred line between right and wrong. If it makes me richer, faster, better, one of the guys, and nobody catches me, why not?
I can always say "I'm sorry".
In most of the apologies I've seen, I'm not sure their sorry about what they did, just sorry they got caught.
None of the apologies I've seen were offered before they got caught. Only when their deeds were brought to light, did they want forgiveness.
Second it seems that we weigh the consequences with what we stand to gain and decide it's worth it. To cheat and make more money is worth the risk. To have an affair is worth the risk that the wife will find out. To do drugs is worth the risk that it could become an addiction.
That's what scares me the most, people are willing to give up so much for something that in all likelihood they can't hang on to anyway.
A very good friend of mine once told me how he handles the temptation of cheating on his wife. "I look at her and say, would this relationship be worth me losing my wife, my kids, probably my home, everything I've worked for?" When you look at it that way, you find you can lose far more than you stand to gain. And yet it happens every day, people trade away everything for a moments pleasure, or a little more money, or to be part of the group.
God offers us something eternal, a life that has purpose and real meaning, peace and a network of friends that care about you and love you. And yet many trade this free gift for the slavery of our desires, greed, ego and addictions.
Let me end with this, I've had to say I'm sorry. I have made mistakes, and at times I've taken the easy way. Most of us have, but with God the slate gets rubbed clean, I start over working even harder not to repeat the same mistakes. Jesus loves me even when I fail, and through Him I'm a better man. I've also learned to forgive people, even people that have cheated me, lied to me, hurt me. I can forgive because I know that God has forgiven me.
So when you come to a crossroad in your life, and you will, and you have to decide on a path you will travel, take the one that you know God would want you to take.
It will be worth it.

MISSIONAL vs ATTRACTIONAL...PART TWO

2009-01-28T12:01:00.004-06:00

Mission
What comes to your mind when you think of the word mission?
Perhaps you think of a foreign country where missionaries work. Maybe you think about a soup kitchen or half-way house. You might even think of an old church in the old west.
But I think in the context of the church, mission is a task. It is an assignment, like when "M" sends James Bond out to do something. OK maybe the James Bond reference is a bit much, but you get the idea.
To compare attractional and missional is like comparing me to Tom Cruise (I'm really closer to Harrison Ford looking). It's not even close (I'll let the ones who know what I look like to judge who is better looking).
The missional church is focused on what they believe God has called them to do. The worship service on Sunday becomes a celebration of what God has done through the week. They put their faith in action, to serve, not to be served.
I guess that's really what it boils down to. The attractional model seems to say, "what do we do to put people in the pews?" The missional model says, "what do we do to get people out of the pews and into a ministry?"
You might think this is a new thing, but Jesus told us to make disciples, and disciples, as least as far as I can tell, got involved in their churches as well as different communities.
I think the bonus here is that when churches are missional, they do tend to attract people, it's not why we do it, but I've found that as churches step out in faith, God blesses what they do.
Now I know that sometimes that means we move out of our comfort zones, and that makes us feel...well uncomfortable. But we have a choice, take the easy road that might get you some more people, well at least more people for awhile. Or we can join God on a mission, and in so doing grow as Christians, and our churches becomes healthier in the process.
Some would argue that I'm talking about a works based theology, but please understand, if God changes us, he changes every part of us. James tells us that faith without works is dead, C. S. Lewis explains it this way, you can't have one without the other, that it's like a pair of scissors, it takes both blades to cut. One without the other is pretty much useless.
Will your church accept the mission?
Or will it be mission impossible?

MISSIONAL vs ATTRACTIONAL...PART ONE

2008-12-30T09:54:00.003-06:00

(Authors note, I'm supposed to write a paper on this for a class I'm taking. Here is what I'm thinking).
What are we driving at?
In our churches this becomes a great question. Many have looked at the church in America as a whole and either verbally or in written form have concluded it isn't working the way Christ intended.
But how do we measure success in the church? Is it pure numbers? What about individual growth?
I would say that when the numbers begin to slide most leadership teams take the attractional route, and what I mean by that we either develop or implement programs that are meant to draw people into the church. Some examples might be, more contemporary worship, programs for kids, programs for adults (example might be a fitness class), hi-tech gadgets that enhance worship, perhaps in extreme cases new building programs or even a new pastor-speaker.
I believe this is a very human response to a larger spiritual issue.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against any of this, in fact you could make a case that attractional things will bring people in, and if one person finds Jesus because of it, that's great.
But lets face it, doing attractional stuff is easier. Oh I don't mean that starting programs is easy, but it doesn't require us to grow, which can be painful and a lot of work.
It comes back to this question, what are we driving at?
When two pastors get together that haven't seen each other in awhile, the question usually gets asked "how many are you running on Sunday morning?" I'm not sure I've ever heard "how healthy is your church" or "are your people becoming disciples?"
If it's all about numbers then the attractional model makes sense. My fear is that when numbers become the main issue, we tend to do attractional things that draw Christians from other churches, instead of the intended target, the un-churched.
I want the church to be relevant, it has to make sense to the culture that it serves, however if we are not careful it can become a grand production. It looks great, high energy, but it doesn't always make disciples, sometimes we only create consumers.
Next month we will look at the missional model.

Happy Thanksgiving...To Me

2008-11-30T14:49:00.003-06:00

My most selfish moment?
Hmmm.
Probably when I was a kid, and it was my birthday. I had my heart set on something, it was a game for my Intelevision console (note, this was the "it" video game console of my generation...yeah I'm that old).
I thought it was a lock, I had bugged my parents until it had to have permeated their brains. I could imagine my Dad at work thinking about this stupid game, but not knowing why. The Chinese may have invented brainwashing, but I had perfected it.
And that glorious day arrived when I fully expected to receive this gift, be up and running with my buddies exploring the new challenges of my new game.
But I think I got a watch instead.
I remember how hurt I was and I wasn't shy about expressing it. I mean they blew it.
But I came to my senses, I even felt a little guilty about acting the way I did.
As I look back on that time in my life, I'm ashamed of the way I acted. I never once considered what I had, I wanted to focus on what I didn't have.
I never stopped to realize how hard my Mom and Dad worked to provide for their big family. Clothes, food and a roof over my head wasn't enough. I was pretty selfish, I wanted more.
The focus you see, was on me.
Christ died for all, and you'd think that gift would be enough for us. If we aren't very careful we can find ourselves throwing a fit about things we want. Things we think are more important.
The focus becomes more about us and less about Christ.
Take some time this Thanksgiving season and do two things.
Thank God that He sent His Son to die for you, to give you peace, and grant you an eternal life.
Second, share what God has blessed you with. Make time to find those who need a little help and display the love of Christ to them.
If you want to make this and future Thanksgivings special, focus on something that will really make God smile.
Others.

Spend some time hanging out with Jesus

2008-10-28T13:37:00.002-05:00

Have you hung out with Jesus lately?
That may seem like an odd question, but I think it's a fair one.
I have spent a lot of time and thought about the church in general and you've probably noticed I have written a lot about it also.
I have read many books, heard many speakers, talked with many church people, both traditional and not so traditional.
We seem to be all talking about the same things, maybe just approaching it differently.
Really when we think about a vision or purpose for the church we sometimes forget to walk a while following Jesus.
As I have studied the Gospels, I try to imagine myself walking behind Jesus when He did things, asking questions like "why did He do that?"
I find some interesting things, like Jesus cared for and commanded that we care for those that are often overlooked, that He really was a friend to sinners that had been shunned in society and offered them something better. He picked outcasts and simple people to start a movement.
He was kind to the woman caught in adultery and very hard on those who claimed to be holy.
He spent time talking about the kingdom, took time to bless children. He took the law to the next step by saying that it was what was in a man's heart that was the issue.
And He gave everything He could give, even His life so that others might live.
When we go into our meetings, when we plan and cast vision, when we decide what our purpose is exactly, we must remember what was important to Jesus. What were the things that Jesus taught? Are we willing to give up some dear things, time, money, traditions, to create a culture that people could come and find life? Spending time with Jesus was a tough road, many turned away because the teachings and the life was just to difficult. Many churches decide that following Him is just to uncomfortable, they hide behind the walls of their churches and their homes.
And many times, that has been me.
But what is so wonderful about our God is that it's never to late, as long as we breathe we can become what God has called us to be. He is the God of transformation, He is in the change business, it just requires us to be obedient and faithful to His call.
If you've been thinking about how dry your life is, or that it seems your getting nowhere, spend some time hanging out with Jesus.
Grab some coffee or tea, get your Bible, turn to Matthew,
and hang on.

Time for a revolution?

2008-10-23T10:37:00.002-05:00

Is it time?
I've been listening to the audio book "Revolution" by George Barna. Anybody that knows anything about Barna knows that George loves stats. He looks for trends inside and outside the church.
I won't get into the details, but suffice it to say, the church as a whole doesn't get high marks.
The hope that he sees in the future is that God is raising people up who consider themselves revolutionary.
You might think that these people are just a small fringe group who are just sour about what happened to them in a traditional church. Jesus freaks who don't play well with others.
But I've ran across these people in my travels. They are young and old, outspoken and quiet, they come from different backgrounds, some have gone to church all of their lives, others are new believers that have little church history.
What makes them revolutionary (and why some are scared of them) is that they don't see church as the most important thing of their spiritual life.
That offends some, mainly because they have formulated that to be a good Christian, you have to be in church. But does going to church actually make us better Christians?
The statistics that Barna uses doesn't indicate that (I'm not going to quote them...read the book), the one that stood out to me is that we divorce at about the same rate as non-believers!
What concerns Barna, and others, is the direction the church in America is headed. It seems that we are holding on to the institution with a death grip when maybe what we should be doing is studying the New Testament church. There was organization, which isn't bad, but there was also a desire to follow Christ and His ways. They didn't come together just to be coming together, they came together to worship and share with each other, their burdens and their needs. It was a beautiful thing.
As time passes I believe more of these revolutionaries will make themselves known. You will tell because they will become dissatisfied with just sitting in a church on Sunday. They want more of Christ than what their getting. They know there's work to be done and they can't sit still until they have their sleeves rolled up doing it.
You may not like the direction or ideas of the revolutionary, and you don't have to. But you will have to deal with them.
The church was never meant to become static. It was to be a dynamic, thriving, living thing that God partnered with that changed the world.
Does that describe you? We should be constantly looking for ways we can show the love of Christ to the world.
If that's revolutionary, so be it.

The Proper Soil

2008-08-26T08:21:00.002-05:00

It looked pretty bad.
I had never been that great of a gardener, the skills that my father had in growing things never were passed on to me. Some years my garden did pretty well, and other years not so good.
This is one of those bad years.
The seed was okay, the timing was good, the soil had been worked, but what I couldn't control was the amount of rain we would receive.
And boy did we get rain this year.
Many of my plants spent a good bit of time under water, one portion of my garden washed away in a miniature mud slide.
So I wasn't to surprised to find that while some plants looked okay, they didn't produce.
The corn plants became discolored and died, most of them didn't produce an ear of corn. The pepper plants didn't grow at all, stuck in what seemed like a permanent pose, never growing, just staying the same. The melon plants that my Father-in-law gave me washed down the creek in a torrent of water and mud.
Bad soil conditions = bad crops.
In building the Kingdom it works the same way. We have to provide the proper soil for growth.
Our church communities become the soil. We have to work at provided the proper conditions for fruit to be produced.
To become a church where seekers feel safe, the church cannot become a place where all they find is condemnation. They need to find a place where it is safe to explore, to ask questions without feeling like they just asked the stupidest question there is. They need to find love, genuine caring love for who they are. We need to produce soil that makes it easy for people to connect with Jesus and the community of believers that surround them.
At the same time we must provide a proper soil for those who already believe, to create an environment that challenges them to look beyond the walls, to keep in front of them the vision and purpose that God has for their lives and to keep them moving in that direction.
If our churches neglect these things the soil does not get worked, we don't produce fruit, we die.
The church of Jesus Christ was never meant to be a country club, it was meant to be a living, thriving organism, that grows when the proper conditions are maintained.
But those conditions will require sacrifice, hard work, and a mindset that keeps us focused on Christ.
Because if we neglect the soil, we will never be the fruit producing body that Christ has called us to be.

A sure sign of the end times...

2008-07-30T15:17:00.002-05:00

You can listen online to a sermon I did at the Crossover, go to www.thecrossover.org and listen for free.
You can also listen to my good friend Pastor Brian Miller pound the pulpit.
Enjoy.

On the other side of it.

2008-07-30T10:36:00.002-05:00

I'm retired.
No not from my job, I'm a little to young and a little to poor to do that.
In late June of this year I completed my term as president of the Midwest Region of my denomination. You can probably look back at my blog entry for two years ago and find where I had taken the position.
As I look back on it, I have seen some high points and low points. I have watched churches grow and unfortunately I have seen some grow smaller.
While I enjoy the release from the responsibility, I always find that God teaches me something from an experience that I go through.
What I wrestle with, and I don't think I'm alone, is what should the church as a whole look like?
It seems we can't agree on why we are here. Some think it is a place for the saints to be fed, nice, tight, clean. The church exists to keep the members happy.
Others see the church as a lighthouse for the wayward soul. A oasis in a desert where people who are hurting can come and find help. Kind of like a mission, or half-way house.
Some see the church as horribly out of date, in need of a spiritual remodeling. Tear down the old and replace it with the new. Maybe a band, or skits, or video ministry.
I'm not sure we can agree on why we exist, but maybe it would be a good exercise to ask people.
It seems that we struggle with this very basic question, are we here to help change the community, the world around us, or are we to hang on, get a few saved, and since the world is going to get worse anyway, mainly focus on ourselves.
You might think I'm anti tradition, but I'm not. I was raised in a very conservative culture. I understand it better than most.
I am also not against contemporary worship, bands or skits. In fact I enjoy a good band, (like the band at the Crossover, man did I enjoy that).
When I'm faced with a question like this, I try to find something in the Word that answers it. When we talk church, I go to Acts 2, and find that one of the main things it says is that they "had everything in common". They answered the question. They knew why they existed.
We cannot exist just to maintain our tradition, because if we do we will cease to exist. Tradition cannot become a god that we serve. Tradition should be something we use to serve God and others. If it fails to do that, dump it.
On the other hand we can't be different or extreme just for the sake of being different or extreme.
Once we decide "why" we are here, we then can decide "how" we get to the goal of what God wants for our churches.
In my short two years, I have seen a church that was on the brink of death, turn around and begin to grow. Why? The people answered the question of why they were there. I'm sure they lost a few people during the transformation. But they gained something , a clear purpose. I believe God honors the faith of those who step out with Him into the unknown.
I have also witnessed a church that had been alive, split. Why? You could probably list several reasons, but for me they simply had forgotten why they exist. Something will always be the focus, if it isn't our purpose it will surely be something else much less important, but very deadly.
Be sure of this, the church of Jesus Christ will survive. Many critics have said for years that the church is but one generation from extinction. Don't you believe it.
But I believe as we regain our direction the church will look much different than it does today. I know that gives some indigestion, but I believe it will better reflect Christ to world that doesn't have a clue. It will make us grow. Painful, but not a bad thing.
My suggestion is that every church look honestly at itself. No Sunday School answers, be honest.
Ask "why do we exist", "what is our reason for being here" and my favorite "if we closed would anybody notice or care?".
The answers will probably tell you volumes about who your are and where your going. I may be an optimist, but I believe in God's power to transform churches.
The question will become will we let Him.

He came off the mountain, have we?

2008-07-07T11:50:00.002-05:00

1When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Matthew 8: 1-2 NIV.
I love the book of Matthew and the "Sermon on the Mount" is one of my favorites. In history there have been many great speeches by many great men. However the sermon Jesus delivers is the basis for how we should live our lives. The people were "amazed" at His teachings.
The sermon itself however isn't my main focus, and I guess I didn't even notice this until I was teaching Matthew chapter 8.
What I did notice was these words "he came down from the mountainside".
Now imagine your giving a sermon or speech and people are so amazed they don't want you to quit. Your saying profound even life changing things, people are applauding, your in the zone and you don't want it to end.
How easy would it be to stop?
What I find lacking in myself, and probably you feel the same, is that I don't want to come down.
Look at the first thing Jesus does when he comes off the mountain. A leper, who has no business being anywhere close to "clean" people, and Jesus does what He always does, reaches across and touches this pathetic, crushed and sick person.
The next person he heals isn't a Jew, the next isn't a man.
You see Jesus could have stayed on the mountain and taught many things, I'm sure people would have come to listen. But Jesus wasn't just about verbal communication, He communicated His love in other ways.
He got off the mountain.
Maybe as Christians we talk to much, maybe we sit in a place where many can hear us, perhaps we spend most of our time telling people how rotten they are and that they should be more like us.
Maybe it's time we came down off of the mountain and engage a culture using our actions and not our words.
But if I'm honest the path of least resistance is really way more attractive. Let the people come to us so that they can listen to our words. That just costs us a little wind.
And when we do that we scratch our heads and try to figure out why the lost aren't coming to hear our profound statements. Try to figure out why the church doesn't grow.
Jesus knew that words alone wasn't going to get it done. He came down off the mountain.
Have we?

The world we live in...

2008-05-31T10:27:00.002-05:00

"10 As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." Romans 3:10-12, NIV.
"1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good," 2nd Timothy 3:1-3 NIV.
These verses have been brought home to me lately as I watch the news. Like many of you I shake my head at what appears to be a total disregard for anything that is good. To many stories of children being abused, stories of abuse inside compounds. It seems as if civilization is just giving up and giving in to any desire that comes into it's mind.
Before I get really self-righteous however, Romans 3 comes to me like a 2x4 across my head. My sins come into focus. I realize I'm guilty, just as guilty as anyone else I can think of. I need grace and mercy. I'm a sinner, made well only because a perfect man died in my place.
I have thought a lot lately about the compound mentality. That people form a group, then believe that if they separate themselves from the rest of humanity, they will be less likely to fall into temptation.
Well it hasn't worked.
The reason is obvious, Romans 3. Man cannot be good, he simply doesn't have it. The only thing he does by creating a compound is that he makes it easier to sin. He creates a culture that allows himself to do what he really wants. Without accountability to anyone else, he can let his desires run wild.
Jesus never taught separation, He taught that His people were to be light and salt. To do that there has to be contact with what needs light and what needs to be flavored. The Bible teaches that the world needs to see our good works, not put up a wall that says keep out.
Even our churches become sub cultures when we don't engage the world around us. In some ways we do the same things as those who build walls. Our walls may not be physical, but the church as a whole has turned more inward. We believe, as those that create compounds believe, that if we just keep to ourselves, that we can control what happens, who comes into our communities, our church will operate much more safely.
That hasn't worked either, since the Bible makes two things very clear. There are wolves among the sheep, and that the church was never designed to be a compound.
I become discouraged when I read stories of men and women, some of whom are pillars in churches, do horrible things. When we remove accountability, when we turn a blind eye, when we are not vigilant, Satan will use people to destroy God's message.
But as depressed as I get about the struggles of the church and of people, God always leads me out of it. This mornings devotions helped me. In Hosea I find a God who makes a strong case for Israel to be wiped out. They have constantly disobeyed and turned away (maybe like you and I have) and you sense how badly God's heart is broken by it. Yet in chapter 11 of Hosea we see God has a parent of a problem child, that while His heart is broken He stands ready to take them back. Verse 8 reveals God's heart, "How can I give you up, Ephraim?". God is saying that to you and me, to His church. It breaks His heart to see His creation disobey, but He offers hope.
He just can't give up on us.
We know one day that God will finally say enough, and bring His people home. Until then we need to be sharing His message of hope.
Thank you God for not giving up on me.

My Aunt, the alien.

2008-04-19T08:51:00.002-05:00

"She's where she always wanted to be".
I offered my cousin this statement as I looked at my aunt lying in the casket that would the resting place for her body.
Visitations are always tough, I never know what to say and usually in my nervous condition I usually say something that I later regret saying.
In this case what I said was true, I had no doubt my aunt was where she always wanted to be.
How do I know?
My aunt was an alien.
I hadn't thought about it until the next day at the funeral, the pastor was sharing what God had laid on his heart and then he spoke the words that always make me cringe;
"If anyone would like to share something about Donna, we will give you an chance to do that."
I get a little nervous when funerals become open microphone situations. You never know what people are going to say. I thought this could become very interesting.
I saw a woman who I had never seen before make her way to the podium. She started by saying how she had moved into the community and how she had met Donna.
She shared that the first time she met Donna, my aunt stuck out her hand and with a smile said "do you know Jesus?"
I smiled because that was my aunt. I mean she was ALWAYS talking about Jesus. It didn't matter who she was talking to. It didn't matter that she battled epilepsy, lost a son in an accident, was diagnosed with cancer, the woman was ALWAYS talking about Jesus.
She would praise Him always, she was asking me to pray for her family every time she saw me, the woman was single minded.
The lady behind the podium shared that she to was a Christian and that she became good friends with my aunt.
It was her next sentence that would become etched in my mind.
"I think a lot of people misunderstood Donna, but that was because she had it right and we had it wrong, she truly lived as one that lived in this world but not of this world".
People did misunderstand her, I know I did. You have to understand the woman was ALWAYS talking about Jesus. Sometimes I wanted to say, Donna I get it, I'm a Christian, can we talk about something else? I never did of course, but I know I thought it as I'm sure other people did too.
As I thought about it she did have it right, and I don't think I ever realized it until that moment. I had a very special aunt, someone who wasn't afraid to talk about her savior to anybody. In the midst of the personal tragedy's in her life, she continued to live her life praising her Lord. Nothing was going to stop her, until her body finally gave out. I don't have a tenth of the courage she had, this little lady put this big guy to shame.
I have no doubt that Jesus spoke the words I know all of us want to hear, "well done good and faithful servant", when my aunt passed into eternity. She lived her life as an alien to this world because she didn't belong here. Her home was, now and forevermore Heaven.
I need to learn to live as an alien here, I need people to think I'm strange (I mean besides the obvious stuff) because I talk about my Lord ALWAYS. I need to live my life in way that makes me a foreigner on the mess called earth.
I had a great example all these years and didn't know it.
An alien named Donna.
Rest in the presence of Jesus my friend, I will see you again.

Wash somebodies feet lately?

2008-03-21T09:52:00.003-05:00

Feet are ugly aren't they.
When I was playing basketball back in high school, I once had my ankle taped up by the assistant coach, who made the statement "Toner, you have the ugliest feet I've ever seen".
It's a wonder I'm not in therapy.
I was kind of in between churches when I met the woman that would later become my wife, and yes Brian Miller set that up. I thought I would say that before he did...again.
Anyway she was going to this church, and since I didn't really have a church, I started going to White Oak (also I got to spend more time with her that way).
The church would conduct Maundy Thursday services, and along with communion they would do foot washing.
Now I knew Jesus had done that, but I'd never seen church people do it.
The first couple of years I would go, but not participate in the foot washing. I was a little self conscious about my feet, plus the fact I had a severe case of athletes foot which was a product of playing basketball year round for three years in high school.
But as the years past, and my condition cleared up. It was put up or shut up time.
The men and women separated, water would be poured in bowls, towels would be wrapped around waists. In the next room I heard the women begin to sing hymns, the men would sing also. The man next to me would wash my feet, I would wash the next guy sitting next to me.
After washing, the washer and the one who had been washed would stand and hug each other in genuine Christian love.
I sat in a circle of men who were leaders of the church, men I had learned to respect, admire and love. There were men who were just attenders, just like me. In this room there was no titles, age made no difference, your past wasn't an issue. It was a room of brothers, united in Christ, united in love for each other.
And while I was nervous at first, I became deeply touched by all of it.
Years have past, and as they have something Jesus said in the book of John rings true, "I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."
And I have been blessed.
But let's look at the bigger picture. The last supper, while beautiful now, was kind of a mess. Jesus was spending his last meal with His friends, who were arguing about who was going to be the greatest. One of His chosen was going to betray Him. They went from who was going to be top dog to which one was the betrayer. What a mess!
All this time nobody had offered to do the servants job. Maybe His friends were just waiting on a servant to show up, but there wasn't one to be had.
As Jesus looked around, the time had come to show them the "full extent of His love". He, the creator of the universe in physical form, would take on the lowest of tasks. To touch the part of the body that would be the dirtiest from its contact with the earth. To wash the feet of His friends. The teacher became the servant. The high became low.
Perhaps we can learn something here, maybe we should consider a couple of things.
The first thing is that Jesus didn't give some kid in the street a couple of coins and say "hey I want you to wash some feet of some people I know". Yet our idea of servant hood many times is writing a check. Not that supporting a ministry isn't important, because it's very important. Yet I would submit the world needs to see our love in action. They need to know that when we say we care, we mean it. Jesus could of just said "I love you" and really meant it. But the Word tells us He was going to "show" them. That display shocked Peter. It would have shocked me too.
Our communities should shake their heads at the love that we display for others. They should ask "why are they doing that?" It worked for the Acts 2 church and I'm betting it would work in most churches.
The second thing is that I have ugly, scarred feet. I've done things I shouldn't have, and yet Jesus died to wash me. When I think about that I'm humbled, which is good. When I wash my brother's feet, I humble myself to do a servant's task. I'm reminded that I am to serve others.
I need to be reminded of that.
I hope this Easter weekend will be a blessing to you and your family, but don't let it pass without thinking of the message of love Jesus taught before He died.
If we are followers of Christ, we are servants.
Wash somebodies feet lately?

To change the world or not, that is the question.

2008-03-18T08:49:00.001-05:00

That might sound like a strange question.
In most churches I'm not sure it even comes up. Maybe it does, but the world they often talk about changing is their world, not the world around them.
And perhaps our theology, that the world is heading straight for the gutter anyway, keeps us
from taking ministry that seriously.
I mean lets be honest, why make ourselves uncomfortable, why change, why get everybody worked up if it isn't going to make a difference anyway? The world is going down the tubes, the Bible even says that it's going to.
Why not spend our lives caring only for those we feel deserve it or those we really care about. Our friends and family come to mind.
And why change the church? It's been the same for years, it was good enough for the saints of old, why start changing things? If you like our way of doing things, fine, if not, well the door works both ways. Let's not get crazy, because really in the end it doesn't matter.
Or does it?
I've talked to several people, many shake their heads at the world around them. They watch the news and get down. It seems like a hopeless task.
And there is so much hopelessness, so many people without hope carrying out violence on themselves and others. Some turn to numbing their lack of hope with drugs, alcohol, relationships.
Is there hope?
Many look for hope through leaders, perhaps even presidential hopefuls, that they will make our world better. But I'm sure you would agree that politicians have seem to let us down so I'm not counting on that to change.
But God did something, pretty amazing actually (He usually does stuff like that). He created the church. A community of believers starting in Acts 2 that would give hope to those without it, that would help when others wouldn't, that would teach forgiveness and discipline, grace and mercy.
The truth is the ONLY hope for our world, our towns, our friends, every human being on this planet is Jesus Christ working through His people. People have tried everything else, it just doesn't work.
You will never vote your town, or the world better. Only the heart changing power of God will do that. Want a better community? Help change a life. Want a better world? Invest in the Kingdom.
It's pretty humbling to think that God would use me to help change the world.
One day God will say enough and call it quits on those who reject Him, but right now work, for the night is coming.
God never intended the church to become static, He created it to be dynamic and serve with a single minded purpose.
To change the world.

Things I don't get.

2008-02-29T09:34:00.002-06:00

A list of things I don't get.
1. Iron Chef America. Is it just me but does the Food Network work way to hard to make chefs look like gladiators? Why do they try to make cooking interesting by making a competition out of it?
2. Any show that features the "latest" scoop about Ms Spears. Why are people so fixated on this sad story. Do we really enjoy a good crash and burn?
3. Preachers that teach "health and wealth". Did that work for John the Baptist? The disciples?
4. Most of the Dodgers' trades.
5. The reason my Mom would give for not buying certain foods, "you'll just eat it". Isn't that what your supposed to do with food?
6. The AMC Gremlin. Did an engineer really design that car, looked at it and said "wow" (buy the way I did own a 73 Gremlin at one time, it may be the reason I didn't date a lot).
7. Ditto on the AMC Pacer.
8. Why is it that gas prices are so sensitive? Some refinery guy gets an upset stomach after eating chili for lunch and gas prices double. Is it just me but shouldn't we have a back up plan?
9. Commercials for ED. Look I'm sorry if you have this, but shouldn't that be between you and your doctor? I'm growing weary of seeing men on these commercials talk about something they would never openly talk about in real life.
10. Pro athletes that sign a contract, and then want a new contract years before the old one is complete.

Stay tuned for more...

Who are you looking at?

2008-02-27T12:37:00.003-06:00

It's interesting the e-mails you get, isn't it?
My e-mail is usually chock full of spam (I've won the European lottery several times!), with a sprinkling of family news and Regional business.
While checking my home e-mail today I noticed a link to a blog called "Casey Women". I was of course curious, since my church is considered a Casey church, and I have many friends and some family that live in Casey.
Well I must say after reading the entries I was, I guess, educated to the fact that Casey is a rotten town that's run by a wild pack of women that feel they are better than everybody else.
Now I don't live in Casey, in fact I live in a smaller town really close to it. I feel like I must of been living in a vacuum these past 42 years and not noticed or heard about this before.
One entry really caught my eye. One gal (I guess it was a gal, the person didn't use their name, I can't imagine why) told of these high class women going to church, and then not speaking to them when they saw them in public. I think the point was that they lived a lie. They professed Christ, but wouldn't lower themselves to talk to the "lower class".
I always find comments like these interesting, and I'd like to throw my 2 cents in.
1. What has going to church have to do with anything? People go to church for a variety of reasons. Some feel like they "should" be there, as if it's a civic duty. Others were raised in church and feel like that's just what they do on Sunday morning. Going to church does not make you holy or perfect. In fact I hope people come to White Oak because they know something isn't right in their lives. The church is a building filled with imperfection. Sometimes we forget that.
The mature Christian knows that he or she needs to fellowship with other believers to help them with their Christian walk. Church attendance does not equal Christian behaviour, it never has and probably never will.
2. It also seems to me that we spend way to much time at looking at others. People will let you down. They will gossip, treat you badly, look down on you, and a whole list of other stuff. So my question is why do we let it bother us? It may lie in the fact that jealousy enters in. I'm guessing these problem gals have money or the right last name or both. Just looking at them makes us angry because they have and we don't. I think we need to focus on the only perfect being that ever walked this earth, and stop letting others affect us. When we lose our focus is when trouble begins for us. Have people looked down their nose at me? Sure they have, but here's the great thing, I don't care, I'm a child of the King.
3. Finally the city of Casey is struggling for the same reason thousands of other small towns are struggling. Jobs are leaving, so people are leaving. It's not that hard to understand. Good jobs are tough to find in small towns. Less tax income for towns and counties means less services and perks for citizens. Now if you can prove that some women, who think their better than everybody else, caused a massive job migration, then I'll listen.
Should people act this way? Of course not, but be careful not to try to remove the speck when you have a log in your eye.
I know many people who live in Casey. They are hard working and just like everybody else.
Their human.

I know, you know

2008-02-01T11:55:00.000-06:00

It happened every time.
I was coaching my little league team, and I had a young man for the second season. He was my third baseman, and he played the position pretty well.
Except there were some occasions he would get a little wild on his throws to first base.
Sooner or later he would sail the ball over the head of my first baseman, and I would utter the words that became almost second nature.
"Watch your throws!"
He would always look at me with a kind of annoyed look and say "I know".
Well after this repeated itself several times, me saying "watch your throws" and him saying "I know", it occurred to me that I wasn't getting anywhere.
So I finally came up with a comeback. At practice one afternoon we were working on our infield drill and sure enough the ball sailed from his hand into the fence behind the first baseman.
"Watch your throws" I yelled.
"I know" he yelled back.
Then I had him, my response would become the cornerstone of my coaching language.
"I know, you know, now do it!"
You see it wasn't a lack of knowledge, he knew for us to be effective he would have to make good throws. If he made a bad throw, we would have a base runner, which in turn would probably mean a run. It was the application of that knowledge that was the problem.
He had a good arm, his eyesight was good, so it became a matter of rushing or not paying enough attention to what he was doing that got him into trouble.
I don't think the Church in America has a knowledge problem, in fact we are probably more educated than most countries. We have heard sermon after sermon and we have been to Bible study after Bible study, so we can't say we don't know.
It's the application of the knowledge.
Peter says a strange thing in 2 Peter 1:12, he reminds his audience of "these things even though you know them". That seemed strange to me, why repeat it if we already know it?
Then my young third baseman came to my mind and then I got it. Peter was saying, I know you know, but I'm going to tell you again.
James says it even better in his letter, in a nut shell (read it for yourself, James 1:19-25) he is saying we are blessed when we do the things we know we should do.
Would it not be a tragedy for us to be Biblical scholars and yet not get the very basic thing that God wants from us. To change the world one soul at a time.
We must be in the Word, for that is where we learn about God and what He desires for our lives, the knowledge is the foundation, but we will be judged by what we do, not by what we know.
How do you think God will respond to us when we say "well I know I should have, but I didn't".
Who knows, maybe He will say "I know, you know".
The facts are simple, we are to be the light in a very dark place. We are to be salt to a world that needs flavored. None of us would deny that.
It's just the application of that knowledge that gets us.
Because I know, you know.

The New Look

2008-01-30T15:07:00.000-06:00

What do you think?
I think the Dodger logo is really cool.
I thought it was time for a change, maybe not get so deep.
Enjoy.

Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008

2008-01-02T10:44:00.000-06:00

Where has it gone?
It seems like only yesterday...oh well, you know the rest.
I have been toying with the idea of killing this blog, maybe starting a new one.
It seems to me that everything about church leadership has been said. I mean there are much wiser people than I that can tackle the tough issues. You can't walk through a Christian bookstore without seeing several books on how to do church the "right" way.
Ask ten different people, you would get ten different answers. Traditional churches are critical of non-traditional and visa-versa (sometimes I wonder if it isn't jealousy).
All of us worship in not so perfect community, which makes sense since people aren't perfect. What I have tried to do in my ramblings is to at least get people focused on Christ.
The several years I have spent in church leadership has taught me a couple of things, one is how much I really don't know, and two is that people who are apathetic Christians are the reason the church in the United States is losing the battle for hearts and souls.
I will not, however tell you that I am blameless. At times I hear the siren's song of just getting away from the responsibilities of leading. Just to sit in a pew and let someone else take the hits is becoming more attractive all the time.
So it comes down to this, perhaps it's time that this blog be changed to something else. Maybe something that looks more like a journal or devotional. Shoot if Brian can do it, I can too!
Stay tuned...

Travesty

2007-11-14T13:18:00.000-06:00

I couldn't agree more.
Have you ever seen church people fight?
I have, and it wasn't all that long ago.
You know the reason they were fighting wasn't really all that important. It could be anything that would cause one group of people to be against another group.
In this case it really came down to which pastor they wanted to keep and which pastor they wanted to unload.
Of course people lined up behind the pastor they wanted. Even the elders were split right down the middle.
Since the leaders couldn't resolve this on their own, they did the un-biblical thing, they called a meeting of the members, and they voted.
Oh but before the vote, people were allowed to share their thoughts.
And that's when things got interesting.
I've seen angry people in the church before, but this was pretty bad.
Accusations flew, finger pointing, raised voices, a lot of poor me's.
I was having trouble remembering that I was in a church, except for the few who would use the Word of God to show they were right.
You see that's the rub really, we love to use the Word, but only parts that help us. Apparently the parts about loving one another wasn't on the reading list.
Look I understand were human, I am the least among my brothers and sisters. I know what can happen when feelings and passions get involved.
Is it possible that we are so focused on ourselves, that we have totally missed the point of being followers of Christ? Has the church in America become so self involved that the only things we get passionate about is worship styles, children's programs, money, and pastor popularity? Has our pride and stubbornness killed our churches?
As the words came fast and heated I wondered about the young people who were witnessing this spectacle. They have heard in their Sunday school classes how Christians just LOOOOVVVEEE one another, and then they see this. I wonder how many left thinking that Christianity is a joke.
They don't consider the damage they have done. The church will probably split. Leaders would rather have a scorched church than to admit that they should remove themselves for the sake of unity.
And that, my dear reader is the second most important thing a church must have to grow (Jesus Christ is the first by the way). Unity, and with that a Unity in purpose. Read Acts and find out that the people had everything in common. So few churches in this country can say that they are united. Satan loves that, since churches that don't have a unity of purpose usually end up fighting over the small stuff. Instead of winning the world, we just want to win.
But what some of these fine people probably have failed to realize is that there are no winners, only losers. The people lose, and their ministry loses too.
After the meeting a gentleman pulled up alongside my van, and motioned me to roll down my window. I pushed the button and the window came down.
"I just wanted you to know that this was a travesty".
I couldn't agree more.

A disturbing trend

2007-09-12T10:46:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's just me.
I've noticed lately that the culture we live in seems to be treating human beings like animals.
Think I'm nuts?
I provide the following evidence;
I read an article about the rise of "torture porn" in the movies. It's not enough to scare people, the new horror movies show intense scenes of torture that involve beautiful people.
I read another article about the rise of children involved in movies that have shown them being raped or in graphic sex scenes. That used to be illegal, right?
I'm seeing more and more news stories about kidnapped children, or even kidnapped adults that are held against their wills and are tortured or raped (or both).
The new cool thing is this Ultimate fighting stuff, in which the crowd gets more worked up when the blood really gets flowing. Let me see, dog fighting is wrong, but have two men (and now, of course, women) practically bare knuckled, beat the daylights out of each other, that's okay.
What does all this equal?
Well, two things really.
First we are becoming a people that's really hard to shock. In other words, we see so much of this garbage anymore, it doesn't even raise an eyebrow anymore. Oh, we get shocked a little the first time we see it, but after that, no big deal. When someone does say something, they get ridiculed as being "old school" or "out of touch".
Secondly, and perhaps, in my view scarier, is that we de-value life. People become objects for the mere pleasure of others. Because of porn, many see women as simply objects, sub human almost. We see people who are violent to other people and we cheer when the contestant falls down and the other person can jump on them to pummel them into submission.
We abort thousands of human lives, because the law does not see them as life yet, but it seems strange to me that if a pregnant woman is murdered, they can charge the killer with two murders.
A human life is a gift from the creator, and contrary to PETA, is more valuable than an animal's life. Using any animal to fight is wrong, but should we not also protect people who are weaker and have been exploited by a culture that simply wants their entertainment at the expense of others?
I know people that do some of these things are well paid, but doesn't that say something when people are dishing out money to see this stuff? The demand is high, or they wouldn't be doing it.
What does that say about us?
I fear a day when we return to the days of Rome, when people were thrown into a ring to be killed for the enjoyment of the masses. If there is a demand, somebody will come up with a way to provide it. In today's world, it's easier to provide it. Just link up to your computer or your TV and you can have it pumped right into your living room.
Jesus said that our bodies are temples.
I'm afraid we don't care.

Choices

2007-08-21T10:19:00.000-05:00

We make them everyday.
Some good, some bad.
Take for instance my son's first day at junior high. He thought is was a good idea to wear socks that covered his entire leg, and yes he wore shorts with those.
Ouch.
I don't know about you, but I think I've seen Mike Vick in that nice suit he has about a billion times.
Talk about some bad choices.
I mean think about it, this guy is going to lose millions of dollars, probably spend some time in the big house, most likely lose his job, over a few bad choices.
When we think about it, sometimes bad choices really don't hurt us much, we learn from our mistakes (hopefully) and we move on. We may get bruised a little, but nothing to severe.
Other choices however can have a lifetime impact on us.
The church is no different. The leadership and the congregation have to make choices. Sometimes they make good choices, sometimes bad, and like any other choice, bad ones sometimes don't hurt us for very long.
But there are times that bad choices can hurt and even kill our ministries.
At the time the choice seems simple and logical to us, but I'm afraid we don't take the spiritual into account. We seem to leave God out of the decision process.
Christians have to factor in things like faith, and God's will. Two very difficult things for us humans to discern. A decision that seems logical to us may lead the church into place that God will not bless. Soon the church is dead.
While it is difficult to have faith sometimes, I think God's will is easier to figure out. Reading how Jesus reached out to people should give us a clue on how we proceed. It was a total sellout. He gave Himself 100% to His creation. He saved nothing for Himself, He gave it all.
And yet we hold on to this or that, comfort and tradition become our gods and every choice becomes based on these factors. Something that Jesus never taught.
And then we scratch our heads and wonder why our church isn't growing.
I sat in a church of eight, kind and dedicated, people ready to preach to them one Sunday. The elder came to me to apologise for the small number. He told me that they didn't have any young people anymore, and it bothered him, however he felt that churches were compromising by using more contemporary music to draw younger people. He felt that just wasn't right.
I smiled and listened, all the while thinking that the choices they had made have killed their church. They aren't alone and I'm afraid many churches are heading for a time when they will make a choice or already have made choices that may be popular with some of the people, but be a disaster for their future.
Like Mike Vick, all it takes is one bad choice.

Dear People of Church X

2007-08-14T10:31:00.000-05:00

An open letter to church X.
You don't even realize it.
I wasn't sure I did either, but I do now.
You don't realize it now, but you will. You will see that Satan uses good Christian people to destroy ministries.
It happens every day.
Good, well meaning people who think there doing the right thing.
Stir up some trouble, flex your muscle, show everyone who's the boss.
But what you don't realize is that your church's ministry, the very thing that you claim is important, will be gone.
And it will take years, if ever, to rebuild it.
You see the church may operate sometimes like it's in a vacuum, but it isn't.
People talk, and boy do they like a good story.
The one about the church down the road that can't get along, that is in the middle of a fight.
People love to see God's people acting like wrestlers at the WWE, or Nascar drivers who bump each other.
And we all know how a good story spreads.
Good luck asking someone to come to church next Sunday.
Hey if they want to get involved in a fight, they can go to the school board meeting.
Nobody wants to walk into a church that is so tense that you could bounce a quarter off of the piano.
But your so busy pushing your agenda, you don't even see that.
So here is my suggestion.
The entire leadership, everybody, take a mission trip to Haiti. I could even arrange it for you, I have some good friends that would love to help.
Look at the poverty, see the need. Remember what it is you were called to be. Remember you are here to serve. You might not be quite as selfish.
You might even humble your hearts before God.
Because that brothers and sisters,
is the only way God is going to bless your ministry again.
Tom

Guilty as Charged

2007-08-07T10:27:00.000-05:00

It started out as my normal drive home from work.
I hit the channel that provides news, trying to keep up to date.
And then it happened.
This particular news station had decided to do a news story on young pastors just going into the ministry.
I was interested.
Well they were going to interview the pastor (or Imam, I guess) of a newly opened Mosque in Virginia.
I was disappointed.
It was a grand event, the Governor of the Virginia was coming, kids were playing on the swings, hamburgers were frying. The announcer said that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States with 2 million converts and growing.
I was sickened.
And then the announcer interviewed the hamburger cook, a man that sounded like he could be your next door neighbor. I'm not sure I will ever forget what he said.
The announcer asked him what he thought of the Mosque being right next door. He said, "It's great, they are really nice and they are involved in the community. If Christians were like this the world would be a different place".
I shut the radio off, I sat in stunned silence as the only sound now came from the tires and the air conditioning.
I was guilty.
Most Christians make broad assumptions. They assume that people just aren't interested in spiritual things, WRONG. They assume somebody else is surely reaching out to people, like the pastor, since that's why they pay him, WRONG. They assume that the church is involved in the community just because they meet in a building that's in the community, WRONG. They assume that people will feel the love of Jesus just because they meet in a building once a week, WRONG.
And maybe we don't say these things, but it's surely the way we live.
I have to admit that the hamburger cook is right. If God's people, the followers of Jesus Christ would understand that Christianity is more than sitting in a pew, waiting on Jesus to take them, then the world would be a different place.
And I'm guessing people wouldn't be interested in following a god that is indifferent and lacks compassion.
Isn't it funny that people would rather hear about a god that talks about violent conversion, than a God of love a peace.
Folks it isn't the message.
It's the messengers.
Guilty as charged.

What happened to the young couples?!?

2007-07-27T11:21:00.000-05:00

Most church leaders ask this question.
I'm not sure I have an answer, but perhaps an observation.
I think some have approached the problem from a simple consumer mindset. Put together some programs so the children of these couples will have something fun to do.
So we become a seller of services. We lure young couples by offering more bang for the buck.
I've heard people say "they just didn't have anything for my kids".
Don't get me wrong, some churches by their very nature are not kid friendly. Their filled with older people who have no desire to see a kid act up in church. They just want them to sit still and be quiet. And frankly those churches for the most part are dead or dying.
Some feel that if you have a dynamic speaker or leader of front of the people, then that will attract the younger generation.
While it helps, I'm not sold on this either. Again it tends to make the church no different than any other program or organization.
Maybe the core question is what attracts people to people.
Maybe the deeper question, have we truly transformed?
The church in Acts had no children's program, no seminars on how to grow churches, no blogs.
But I would submit that they grew at an incredible rate.
Why?
There had to be something special that the outside world saw in the believers of Christ.
I guess I'm saying that we are the advertisement for our God. And I think the world looks at us and says "your no different from us".
They can join any other organization and get that.
But when people see something that they lack, when they see love and compassion, when they see the church as a caring place, a place not focused on themselves but on others, then I think we have transformed church from just a place to a community.
Let's be honest, when we do advertise our church, are we really looking for the unsaved or are we looking to pull other Christians from other churches into our really nice programs?
You might get the idea I hate kids programs, or programs in general.
I don't.
I just hate programs that make us feel like were doing something, when really were not.
So I guess the young couples need to know you care.
But I think that more importantly, they need to know your for real.
They just don't have time for pretenders.

I see hope

2007-07-24T10:47:00.000-05:00

At times I'm negative.
I know I shouldn't be, but I've seen things that happen in churches that just makes you want to cry.
But I was encouraged at the Midwest Region Conference of our denomination.
I heard stories of people setting aside the normal church routine and being the church that I believe Christ has called all of us to be.
Instead of sitting, their doing.
Now I'm sure some people in our churches are fearful we are moving to fast, moving away from what they are used to.
And I'm just as sure for some of our more pioneering members, we aren't moving fast enough.
But we are moving.
Our denomination is so cool in the fact that we don't hammer a certain style. We are very diverse in our approach to church.
The speakers at conference were awesome, the organization was awesome, the worship was awesome.
In fact, I'm not sure I've been to a better one.
I had a boss once who owned a struggling company. As his company fell down around him he would always say, "were just about to turn the corner".
And we never did. The "corner" was just to big.
My prayer is that we "turn the corner".
And we don't stop there.

Ode to Sandy

2007-07-23T11:52:00.000-05:00

She came to my parent's home when she was still a pup.
My younger brother had always wanted a dog, and Sandy just showed up. She must have been a stray, but it didn't matter.
Sandy and Jim hit it off great.
Nobody could come into the yard without Sandy barking and alerting Mom and Dad. Sometimes Sandy would continue to bark at people even when they had entered the house, which would get my Dad scolding her.
But it didn't matter.
Sandy either liked you or she didn't.
Even if she didn't like you the worst you got was a whole lot of barking. She never bit anybody that I can recall. She had a job to do and she did it for a long time.
She had been through many changes at my folk's home. Jim would move away, grandchildren would begin invading her space, my father's cancer and his death, and finally she moved to a new home with my Mom.
But her expression was always the same. Those dark eyes and alert ears were always probing, looking out for her family. She never had any pups, she didn't need them. We were her family.
And if it's possible, I think she took pride in looking after all of us.
Over time her steps became less quick, her hair stopped growing. There was pain in every step as arthritis got to her. Her eyes became clouded, her hearing began to fail. I would walk up on her without her even moving. When she did realize I was there she would become startled, and maybe embarrassed by the fact that I had gotten that close.
And finally Mom had to put her down.
The last years of her life were spent keeping my Mom company. She made the house less lonely for Mom. Now that Mom is engaged to be married, maybe Sandy wanted to hang around until she knew Mom would have somebody.
I can't be for sure, but I wouldn't doubt it.
Sandy was that good.
I will always remember Sandy laying at the feet of my Dad. He sat in his chair, suffering from the effects of his illness, Sandy never letting Dad get to far out of her sight.
Thank you Sandy.
You were a great dog.

So, here I am again.

2007-07-12T11:57:00.000-05:00

No I haven't died.
I was shocked to see I haven't posted since April. Man the time sure speeds past us.
Let me give you a short recap on events since April.
1. My oldest graduated High School.
2. Went on a great vacation to North Myrtle Beach. Met Brian and Danielle there (who happened to be there the same week...cool) and had a great evening. I discovered that Brian is uncomfortable with heights (I've know the guy since 2nd grade and didn't know that). Our room was on the 18th floor so the view didn't sit well.
3. Oldest son's girlfriend breaks up with him. As a parent this has to be one of the toughest things you deal with. Watching your kid mope around the house. What's really tough is trying to tell him you think it's probably for the best. I was in his shoes once and I know I didn't listen either. Makes for a very frustrating experience.
See, you really haven't missed much.

BLACKABY VS. McMANUS

2007-04-05T10:16:00.000-05:00

Reading a new book now.
"Seizing Your Divine Moment" has been a pretty good read, as well as pretty painful.
I had also studied Blackaby's "Experiencing God" book and I have noticed that both authors speak to believers doing something for God.
The way each man approaches this is quite different.
I have always liked Blackaby's approach to determining God's will for our lives. If I recall (it's been awhile) there were some pretty concrete steps to take.
1. Pray about what God wants you to do.
2. Study the word and see if it speaks to you about what God wants you to do.
3. Are the conditions and opportunities such that you could do what God has called you to do?
4. Are other believers confirming to you that you should do what you feel God is calling you to do.
There may have been another one, but these are the ones I remember. They all have one thing in common.
They involve time.
Time to sort out what God wants you to do.
I like that because it increases the time I get to sit on the bench. I can roll things around in my mind for years. I can analyze and re-analyze every event in my life and say "well I'm just not sure this is what God wants".
So I can do...nothing.
Erwin has this way of cutting down every excuse that we "good" church people can come up with to not do anything. It can be really annoying.
In his book, Erwin talks about finding something that needs to be done, and do it.
Now he isn't saying not to be in prayer about it, and sometimes there is failure.
But isn't that better than not doing anything?
If I had to use one word to describe the average church I would say lukewarm, and I think we became lukewarm when we decided that we weren't ready to get into the game.
So many needs to be met, so much ministry to do, and yet to enter the game means getting dirty, uncomfortable, involved, and gosh we might flop.
So we have our sweats on, ready to get in the game, but not really wanting to get in the game.
I think Blackaby has a lot of great points, and he has had a lot of success. He states that we should see what God is doing and join Him in that endeavour. And that's true if we are really serious about not being a bench warmer. However it can be a handy excuse not to do anything when we can't decide what God is doing. You know, for the rest of us that are just plain scared.
I'm not really that smart, but I do know this, if your waiting for the perfect moment to do something, waiting for all the planets to align, waiting for all the money and resources to be just right, waiting on a bright neon sign to tell you to move, you might as well just stay on the bench.
So we do, and in doing so we show how much faith we really have.
I'm not telling you it will be easy, that you will never fail or be hurt. Your attendance might go down, but we must remember that as long as we seek to do the things that are close to God's heart, is that really failure?
I define failure in the context of sitting in a pew your whole life and never do anything beyond taking care of yourself.
And at times I have been that failure.

The Journey

2007-03-23T08:56:00.000-05:00

I love vacations.
When I was growing up, my family never really took a vacation. My father worked out of town a lot so the last thing he wanted to do on his vacation, was to travel.
When we did go somewhere, it was Wisconsin (so he could deer hunt) to stay with a dairy farmer that he had become friends with. While dad hunted, I learned lots about milking cows and spreading cow manure on fields (note, never sit on the fender of a tractor when spreading manure).
When I got married, my in laws traveled to San Antonio and took me along. I had never been that far away for fun.
I was hooked.
One of the things about vacation that I really like is when I travel with my family and that includes brothers and sisters, brother and sister in laws, mom and in laws.
I wouldn't even mind my friends going with me.
Why?
The journey is more fun when we bring someone else along.
I loved it when my brothers experienced North Myrtle Beach for the first time, when we were able to take my Dad to the ocean, when most of my family went on a cruise.
I love being on a journey with people.
It isn't any different with our journey with Christ. It should be an adventure that we want to bring others along to experience. Maybe we've looked at reaching people in the wrong light. Maybe we should want people to travel with us on the only trip that will matter, to see the love of Christ, to experience true community.
I'm afraid many of our churches want to travel alone. There not having any fun on the journey, (or at least they sure don't act like their having any fun) and they don't want anyone else to have fun either.
Sure the journey hits some rough roads, heck I was in North Myrtle when a hurricane hit and we had to evacuate, but I sure like to be with people who care about me when the storms hit.
Are we asking people to join us on our journey?
Tough question, but perhaps if we look at life as a journey (and it is) maybe we won't find it as hard to ask people to travel with us.
Show them that life is better when you have company.

What I've been up to.

2007-03-06T14:22:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I know, its been awhile.
But I've been busy, really.
Back in October (maybe in September) this rural church ask me to fill in for them, since their pastor had resigned.
I've been there ever since.
I don't like the title "pastor", since all I'm doing is preaching and I can assure you there is a vast difference between the two.
I'm not involved with any of the planning, leading or disciplining. Actually it's kind of nice since I haven't been doing any of these things at my home church either since I've been away.
I'm kind of floating around between the two.
This is my first experience preaching every Sunday, and I have a new respect for those that have done it for years. It really has to be hard on those who work part time (or full time) and try to pastor.
What I've found in my life is that God teaches me things through experiences (I guess I'm to thick to learn any other way) and I've learned a lot. I came into this church with several misconceptions that God has been only to happy to point out to me.
This church has been cordial, patient, and generous. They would have liked for me to apply for the job, but I just don't feel like God wants that.
My proof?
Just in the short time I've been there God has brought to them two qualified candidates, and well frankly I see my time there coming to a close.
Although I haven't been there a really long time, I'm not sure how I will feel when I preach the last sermon there. There will be some relief I'm sure but I wonder if I will feel sad that its coming to an end.
Anyway I have compiled a short list of things I have learned;
1. Sermons can sound a lot better when your planning them than they do when you preach them.
2. I really believe that some people have sleeping disorders.
3. Don't think that just because your filling in that you won't have to do some counseling (yes it did happen, wow).
4. Some people REALLY love the version of Bible that they have, and they would prefer you use what they like (I'm waaaayy to stubborn for that).
5. Never base a church on what you see on the outside.
6. People will tell you sometimes using verbal or non verbal communication that your sermon didn't mean anything to them.
7. Some people don't like to shake hands, others will crush your hand when you shake it.
8. Good Christian people will love you, even when you stink from the pulpit. The people that I have had the privilege of speaking to have been a shining example of that love (thank goodness).
God has given me, a wounded (see Brian Millers blog), broken vessel a chance to speak His words in front of His people.
I am humbled by the experience, knowing that much better men than I could have done much better.
But God decided to bless me.

We make music better together.

2007-02-08T12:46:00.000-06:00

I'm serious, it was a good time.
It was my honor to be in the same room with some very sharp people.
And to tell you the truth, they used to scare me.
The place was Champaign, and I was attending the Midwest Region's Healthy Reproducing Churches conference.
Now I must admit, church planters are a unique lot, they by nature have a pioneering spirit, are much braver than most (at least braver than I) and they have a real desire to reach people for Jesus that just aren't interested in most people's idea of church.
At times I felt ashamed that I didn't have the fire that some of these people had, I mean gee whiz these people were EXCITED about church planting.
What a bunch of nuts, right?
Well I came away with hope, and that might sound strange. I truly felt I was looking at the future church, and not a church with a huge building or super large numbers, and not a church focused on itself.
A church that has it's eyes fixed on Christ and on the mission that He commanded we be on.
As president of the region I started thinking, what if every commission I had was this serious. What about our Church and Pastor relations commission, our Cross Cultural commission? What if every area of our region got really serious about what they were doing?
I was watching a DVD last night, Genesis, Live at Wimbley, and they always have some extra feature at the end of the disc. One was an interview with Tony Banks, who plays keyboard for the group. He made the statement that he enjoyed playing in a group because "you can do so much more musically together than you can do by yourself".
I thought, how better could we do things if all parts of the body of Christ, all of our talents and gifts could somehow be used in harmony with one another to make something beautiful.
But we don't, we just want to be excited about us. We might be jealous, or even hostile towards others who seem to be doing something more than we are doing.
Brian once told me I should plant a church in my home town, and I told him that he was nuts (or crazy) that I just wasn't gifted with the people skills to pull that off.
But that doesn't mean I can't come alongside people who can and cheer them on.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2007-01-05T11:30:00.000-06:00

I was watching TV again, and again I was disappointed.
I was watching an interview with Allen Iverson, or as he is called in some circles "the answer".
What really struck me was Iverson's complaint.
"I think I deserve more respect".
Hmmmm.
Let's see, you get paid millions of dollars, to play a game. You have fought with just about every coach you have played for. You don't see a need to practice, and your body looks more like a badly done billboard.
I can't see why somebody wouldn't respect you.
Some might argue that playing all those games would be hard on a persons body. I've played a little basketball, so I would believe that.
But what about the millions of people who work at dangerous jobs every day, that take a huge toll on their bodies, who will never see a tenth of what "the answer" will bring home.
It's a disturbing trend in our culture today.
You see respect is something you EARN.
You might be really good at putting a round ball in a round hoop, you might be really smart, or you can sing, or be very beautiful.
But that doesn't guarantee respect.
I really don't care all that much what Brittany, Lindsey, Iverson, Mr Cruise, and the rest of the "stars" have going on in their lives.
But please, don't go out in public and whine that people are being unfair, that your not getting respect, when you go out and do stupid things.
What I fear is happening is that our children are watching these poor examples for role models and figuring out that, if we dress like, try to look like, try to be like, these people then they will be fawned over, desired, respected.
But because I'm a generous guy, I'm going to help. Here are my tips for gaining respect.
1. Be humble. Your not the only person on the planet. Don't look down on us "mortals" just because we didn't win the genetic lottery. Try thinking of others before you think of yourself.
2. Dress like you have some respect for yourself. If there is anything more disturbing, and keeps teenage girls dad's awake at night, it's this one. Look, you can be a beautiful without showing everyone all your body parts.
3. Be your own person. Take your own path. Don't be a lemming and run with everyone else to their destruction. Don't do something, just because everyone else is doing it.
4. Take responsibility for your actions. Just once I'd like a pro athlete, or a movie star, actually admit that they broke the law, and pay the fine or do the time. I get so tired of stars saying "don't you know who I am?!?". I just read today they some Peavy for the San Diego Padres got thrown in jail. His crime? He double parked at an airport, which I admit is a long way from stabbing someone. What got him in trouble was, yes you guessed it, his mouth. He simply told them "write me a ticket and I'll just pay for it". I applaud the law enforcement officer for his quick thinking response. He threw the spoiled brat in jail. Hey all you important people out there, stop hiding behind your lawyer's skirt, plead guilty for once, or better yet, don't break the law because you think your better than everyone else.
5. Don't talk so much. Now you may be an expert at acting, or singing, or playing a sport. That does not make you an expert on, well anything. Now don't get me wrong, your entitled to your opinions, just make sure you tell people that it is just your opinion. Reading a magazine article on global warming does not make you an expert. Stick with your strengths, and do more listening than talking.
Since we, as a nation, are so entertainment centered many ordinary, everyday people are becoming much like the people we watch on a daily basis. I'm seeing a lot of people who are developing the same attitudes as the "stars".
So maybe my tips can help them also.
But if you can't get yourself together,
don't expect any r-e-s-p-e-c-t from me.

Too many questions...

2006-12-08T15:06:00.000-06:00

What should I do?
My emotions range from sadness, frustration, guilt, disappointment and worry.
I have never been very good at making the big decisions.
Maybe not as good as I thought about a lot of things.
How did I get here?
How can I possibly squeeze more into my schedule?
What kind of toll will it take on my family?
Has it already cost me? Has my past come back to roost?
Life is so short, is it fair to make my family suffer?
Isn't there anybody else?
Maybe it sounds like a whine, but it isn't. I feel like Bilbo sometimes, butter spread over to much bread, thin.
A part of me wants so badly to withdraw from everything, just be me. Tom, the guy who comes to church and then goes home.
No worries, no problems. Let someone else fight the battles, do the meetings, struggle.
Other people do it.
Why can't I?
I'm nothing without Christ, His grace is the only thing that keeps me going.
But it seems the weight is getting heavier.
Maybe I'm carrying to much, maybe I need to learn to lean more on Him.
Maybe that's what He is trying to teach me.

Happy Birthday

2006-11-02T09:56:00.000-06:00

I have just now discovered that this blog is 1 year old.
Amazing.
Time is blazing past me, I have a son who is a senior in high school.
I'm to young for that.
That thought of my sons not being around much has already caused me some concern. I can see the empty nest coming, and its still a ways off.
You get used to having people around you, I have watched Matt grow from a baby to a young man. I have seen his body get stronger as God prepares him for his life work.
It amazes me to a large degree.
Have I taught him everything that he needs to know?
It has been hard to give him more freedom. Its not that he has done anything to betray my confidence in him, its just I see him slipping away from me.
He doesn't need me as much.
One of the cruel facts of life is that, as a parent, our job is to prepare our children to replace us. To love and nurture a child, so he can pack his bags and say "see ya".
Matt wants to live in an apartment as he goes to school. My head says that living on his own would be good for him
My heart hopes he commutes.

Are Preachers Always to Blame?

2006-10-19T11:52:00.000-05:00

I was reading an article from Cal Thomas regarding the fact that that married people are now the minority. He states some interesting reasons, many I agree with (you can find the entire article at townhall.com).
But something he did say got me thinking, I wanted to share it.
"The clergy have not always been helpful to marriage. Many- not all , but many-regularly ignore biblical instructions about marriage, divorce and remarriage because their congregations are populated with members who have divorced and they reason that their money in the collection plate spends just as well as that of married couples. Some people prefer to hear about the sins of others-or no sins at all-than about their own. The "fear of God" long ago was replaced in too many churches with the portrayal of God as a warm and fuzzy uncle who understands why you do the things you do and doesn't care all that much as long as you are happy and "fulfilled".
I can agree that nobody likes to hear about their sins, but I have a question.
Are there any sinners in Cal's church?
I won't argue the fact that some pastor's play for the crowd and I know there is a real push to make God out as a "uncle" figure instead of a creator-judge figure.
But is it just me or does Cal sound a little self-righteous?
I mean where does Cal want the divorced people to go? Is he saying they shouldn't be in church? Does he want the remarried people to split up?
The other point I want to make is I'm sure that there are plenty of great pastors who preach the word the way it should be preached and yet still have some of their people fall into the trap we all stumble into at one time or another. You can preach the greatest sermon, and yet people will do dumb things. Is that the pastor's fault?
I'm afraid we often forget that we need the grace of Christ every day. But I'm afraid that somewhere in our Christian walk we become so "good" or at least better than "other people" that it becomes us vs. them. We stop sharing Christ with others, the gulf between the Christian and the non-Christian becomes wide.
I respect a lot of things Cal has said over the years, he is a smart guy that isn't afraid to speak his mind.
I just wonder how he would have responded to the woman at the well.
I think I know.

My Book List

2006-10-11T08:18:00.000-05:00

I've been reading a lot lately.
And I thought my public (hi Mom) would like to know what reading I've been doing.
1."Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis.
This one, I believe, is a must read for Christians. It is a good read that keeps you interested by talking about things you probably have wondered about yourselves. Lewis keeps it pretty simple and explains things in a way that even I understand. I had borrowed it from the library, but I'm going to own a copy of this real soon.
2. "An Unstoppable Force" by Erwin McManus.
I would encourage all established traditional church leaders to read this one. At the very least read the first few chapters. Erwin nails the condition of most churches, and explains how it happened. Now I love Erwin's stuff, but remember he is the pastor of a large multi cultural church in California, so I'm not saying what worked for him will work for you. But if you read it and your honest with yourself, you will have to admit that Erwin somehow spent some time in your church.
3. "No Higher Honor: Saving the Samuel B Roberts in the Persian Gulf" by Bradley Peniston.
Yeah I know, this one has nothing to do with church, but it's about my other love, naval history. I'm half way through and so far it's pretty good. If you don't remember, the USS Samuel B Roberts hit a mine in the Persian Gulf during the Iraq-Iran "tanker war". It does show how being prepared for something can have a huge pay off.
4. "Godless: The Church of Liberalism" by Ann Coulter.
Now I'll be the first to admit that Ann doesn't pull punches, and she can be kind of rough. Her humor mirrors mine (you know, sarcastic) and she has some great social comments. My only problem is her almost pure hate for people who look at things different than she does. I consider myself pretty conservative, but I sometimes wince when I read some of her cutting remarks. Still her attack on evolution is well thought out and very scientific, which is good ammo against those who push evolution.
My biggest problem with my reading is I have a HUGE list of books that I need to read, and I sometimes set books down, start reading others, and I never finish the first one. I want to read more, but it seems I can't find the time to do it.
So many books, so little time.

What I will always remember.

2006-09-18T10:53:00.000-05:00

I was a little worried.
We had just got done playing basketball, in one of those "unofficial" practice games when I played for Martinsville. Just because it was summer, that didn't mean you could take some time off.
As I walked into the McDonalds, I knew I didn't have any money, my folks at that time of my life didn't have a lot, and I hated asking them for any. I know my folks would have given me some cash, had I asked for it. I just hated doing that.
I walked silently in with my buddies, Brian and Wade, hoping to hear Brian say those special words, "you want something?".
You see Brian cared, and although he probably doesn't even remember giving me money, I have never forgotten.
I still tell him from time to time that I still owe him, and he always gives me that look like, what are you talking about?
My point of this is pretty simple. People remember the times when somebody came to their aid. Helped them in a time of need.
And that will be remembered much longer than any sermon you will ever preach.
Jesus taught many things, but what really strikes me is His compassion for those in need. He cared for people.
It only shows that when we give to others, with a cheerful heart, the doors will become open for us to share our faith.
I couldn't tell you how many times Brian paid for my food when we went out of town to play basketball, he never groaned or complained about the fact I didn't bring my own money.
And that, I will never forget.

Is restoration possible?

2006-08-31T10:43:00.000-05:00

I've been reading the Emerging CGGC blog (emergingcggc.blogspot.com) and boy does my head hurt.
If you want to see some very forward thinking by some very bright people within our denomination, check it out. You may not agree with everything, but it will make you think (thus the reason for my headache).
As you have probably been able to pick up from one of my blog entries, my church is at a crossroads.
And I'm happy to report that the elders and pastors got together and had some serious and frank discussions about where we are as a church.
One of our elders (we will call him "Ed") asked a great question.
"What would we be doing if we were planting or starting a new church?"
That question really struck me, since I happen to know a couple of church planters. Now I know nothing about planting a church, wouldn't know how to even begin. But it did get me thinking about traditions and how we do church.
Anyway back to the Emerging blog, I came across this from the blog entry "What kinds of churches are we planting?". The author of this is a talented church planter named Steve Sjogren and it's from his newsletter;
If personally watched for a number of years a very gifted, nationally known pastors, speaker and author in the 70s (I know you weren't born yet) try to reverse the trend of his Southern California denominational church and renew it to see the Spirit of God fill his church with newness, a sense of expectation each week, etc. I watched him work tirelessly week after week. When I arrived on the scene of his weekly services, he had been tireless working away at renewing his congregation for over a decade. It was obvious to me as a rather intuitive person that his people resistant to the message of walking in a life of the ullness of the Spirit, of giving their lives away to others, of being inviters. It was heartbreaking. After seeing this patter up close over a prolonged period of time I made a couple of good, long-term decisions: 1. It would be a waste of a good life to devote myself, my ministry call and strength to that approach considering my desire to see change come upon a congregation (Im not wired for a snails pace change over decades of ministry), and 2. That the idea of renewing a congregation was debatable if it was really possible both according to church historical observation and the teaching of scripture (namely Jesus teaching about the message of the new wine needing a new wineskin that just makes sense and of course it is inspired scripture).
I understand Steve's heart, the task before us seems kind of like digging a hole through a mountain with a teaspoon.
Why pound your head against a wall for a church that doesn't want to move in a new direction?
I have to believe that God is in the restoration business, He does it time and time again. I also know that restoration comes only when the people repent. That means change.
So it comes to this, and it's pretty simple.
1. We continue on the way we are. We will survive for years, but with a diminished staff, and a much smaller missionary budget. The attendance will continue to slip slowly, and there will be little life.
2. We change, and really I'm not sure what that will mean. We will have to stop talking about dollars and talk more about people. We will have to identify the needs in our community and address them. It's not a lot, but it would be a start.
What will really scare some people is that option 2 won't help the churches perceived money problems, in fact it may make them worse.
I have looked around at other churches, and I find we are not the only church at a crossroads, that many have turned cold. What does the future hold for them?
David Miller commented that "at least we see the crossroads" and he's right. I'm thankful for pastors and elders that know something just isn't right. The biggest challenge for us will be to lead the people.
And it's very possible they will decide not to be led anywhere.

In the garden

2006-08-11T13:28:00.000-05:00

It had gotten way out of hand.
I kept looking at my green bean row, and I didn't like what I saw.
Because of a major weed problem, it was hard to see the beans.
So I put on my bib overalls and decided it was time to weed the garden. Fortunately it was just one row, but bending over pulling huge weeds out, while protecting the bean plants I wanted to keep, was a major time consuming deal.
As I sweated and pulled the stubborn green enemy I thought to myself; man I wish I had done this sooner.
I had to ask myself; why did you let this get in this condition?
I had no excuse, I had walked by the garden several times and saw the mess, but I always had thought, I'll get it later.
Later finally came.
So while I was sweating it came to me, at times my life had gotten the same way.
Things that we shouldn't let get going in our lives begin to flourish, they began to crowd our lives. We know we should do things different, but yet we refuse to really deal with the core issues. So over time we let things take root, and before long our lives get in a mess.
I don't think it ever sneaks up on us, slowly over time we let this go, we let that go. We notice it once and awhile, but really don't want to put out the effort to change it.
I think it's good that we take an honest look at ourselves from time to time. What has gotten in the way of living like we should? Have we let our guard down and allowed things to take hold of us that shouldn't be there?
It was hard work making my beans look better. It will take much more work to be the Christian God wants me to be.
But it is always worth the effort.

The Crossroads

2006-08-07T15:14:00.000-05:00

Here we sit.
Eyes looking down.
I glance around the room and I see worry, I see questions.
How did this happen?
How did we fall this far?
What do we do?
One voice says "cancel our second service", another says "the people look like zombies in our service".
The joy is gone.
The money is running out.
Another voice, "we have no twenty year olds", yet another "were not growing, in fact were shrinking".
Ah the good old days, plenty of money and plenty of people, good people, nice people. Everything we did turned to gold, if we wanted it, we bought it.
It seems that we didn't even have to work for it, everything just fell into our laps.
The services now seem cold, the people now have grown older.
What happened?!?
Here we sit.
At the crossroads of our church.
The choice is simple.
Continue the same way, and surely the results will be the same. The path that leads to irrelevance, leads to death.
Change what we do?
Can we do that?
And what do we change?
The questions far out weigh the answers it seems.
And God seems so far off.
And what do I do?
What can I say?
It frustrates me, makes me angry.
I don't have the answers.
I could say simple things like, "go contemporary, love people, be friendly".
But I know the core issue is comfort.
Down deep, really deep, our people are comfortable.
They like it when they know everyone, they know when we will end the service so they can make it to the diner.
They know they have fulfilled their Christian duty by being in church. They've done just exactly what they think Christians should do.
Nothing less, nothing more.
How do you fix that?
And do they really want to fix it?
Here we sit.
At the crossroads of our church.
We look at the road on the left.
It's smooth, nice, and there is lots of pretty things to look at. It will continue until there is nobody left to travel the road.
I look at the road on the right.
It's rough, uncertain, scary. To travel it means saying goodbye to comfort, to thinking only of ourselves, and goodbye to feeling safe. And it may be the only way we survive as a relevant, healthy and growing Christian organism.
Here we sit.
At the crossroads of our church.
And I'm afraid the road on the left may be our choice.

On the lake.

2006-07-20T09:05:00.000-05:00

I needed it.
I had forgotten how peaceful it is.
Several years ago my friend Jim and I started catfishing at a nearby state lake, and as all good catfishermen know, the best time to catch them is at night.
In our younger days we would stay out till 1-2 in the morning, now I start to feel it about midnight.
Over the years Jim and I have been through a lot. Jim has been through two divorces, I had lost my Dad.
So fishing had been our therapy, it's so peaceful on the water at night.
Last year we both were busy in other things, we didn't go at all.
Jim called me the other day and wanted to go, I finally had a free night so I said I would.
I love being on the water, but at night it's even better.
As I sat on the boat, waiting for the next bump on my line, I looked up, and saw the night sky.
You really haven't seen stars until you see them from a boat, at night. Since there isn't much light, you can see stars that you wouldn't normally see.
I had missed that, it seems lately that a billion things are running in my head, more demands on my time, tough issues at my church and tough issues for the region I lead.
But as I sat there, smelling of garlic covered chicken livers (yes that's the bait we use), looking up at the sky I realize once again how awesome our God is. So many people are so tight, we have run ourselves almost to the point of a complete breakdown, we dance on a razors edge trying to always be right, not leaving any room for mistakes.
If we could all just take a deep breath, put some chicken livers on a hook, throw it in the water and just stare at a star filled sky, maybe we would realize that maybe we take ourselves to seriously, that we have forgotten the simple things.
That the things that concern us today will long be forgotten when we are gone, and our relationship with the Creator of the stars should have been the most important thing in our life.
Maybe I'm to simple.
But from a lawn chair, on a lake, at night, I'm okay with that.

The 2006 family vacation

2006-07-06T10:34:00.000-05:00

I have returned.
Back from the Gulf coast were it was very warm.
When I told people I was going, people asked me "are you going on a work team?"
I have to admit, no.
What I went for was to see a couple of WWII museum ships, one in Mobile AL and the other in Baton Rouge.
You see I'm a ship nut, I love being on the water (although I can't swim) and when you combine that with my love for naval history, you can see why I went.
Don't you feel sorry for my wife and kids?
They were pretty good sports about it, they endured the heat and walking up and down ladders that were never made for the tourist.
We did see some of the hurricane damage in some places, but we didn't get off the highway very much.
What I did see made me feel pretty good.
And what did I see?
Several church vans pulling little trailers, some as far away as New Jersey.
You see the church as a whole has taken some pretty good shots from a variety of different sources.
But nobody can argue the impact churches have had in the damaged areas of the south. They have not stopped working, not stopped loving people in need of hope.
And there still coming, still working, still loving.
So I'll take my hat off to those who have sacrificed their time and energy to help their fellow man in a time of extreme need.
Just as Christ did for us.

To tell the truth or the truth redux

2006-06-26T10:37:00.000-05:00

"Gentlemen, this is a football"
I once read that Vince Lombardi would start his training camp with these words. I can only imagine what some of the players thought about this comment.
And yet, without knowing it, the late Mr. Lombardi is going to help me make a point.
What he held in his hand was a football. Not a baseball, orange, or underwear.
It is a football.
That my friend is an absolute truth.
Call it whatever you want, it is a football.
Now can you imagine one of the rookies on the team saying, "well it may be a football to you, but I thing it's a grape".
I would bet he wouldn't make the team.
I know some of you are going to say I'm making a silly point about something as complicated as the truth.
But has it become more about taking the truth, and changing it to fit our lifestyle?
What if, dare I be this bold, we have decided it's much easier to change the truth than it is to change how we live?
Being kind of slow I'm just now try to get a handle on post-modernism and the emerging church, and I have to tell you there are some things I like. Dealing with the brokenness and social needs of people, I think, is Biblical. That's what Jesus did.
I'm cool with that.
Having a church setting where people can come and find love and hope. That's good stuff.
I'm very cool with that.
But my question is this.
At what point do we teach the truth?
See I tricked you, because some people say "well what is the truth"?
And now we come back to my first point.
There has to be an absolute truth. Without it there is chaos. There is no right and wrong, only feelings. People live for what they think is right, which man can come up with some really wacky stuff.
And I know the truth hurts. We don't like to be told what to do or what not to do. We don't do criticism very well. God better be okay with what I'm doing (or not doing) because I'm not going to change. But hey God is love right?
At what point do we preach or teach the absolute truth? The one that you know exists. The one that you know may hurt some feelings. The stuff that brings conviction to people to change their lives.
Or the stuff that you know may cause you to lose some people.
I'm really torn here because I've been reading some great books about reaching people were there at.
And I know, better than most, that the Christian walk is one of a process. I also understand, better than most, that none of us are without sin.
But do we stop preaching the absolute truth for fear we might offend someone?
I once heard of a pastor who would not preach against abortion, his reason caught me off guard. He simply stated that he couldn't preach against it for fear they would fire him.
Everybody wants to preach about Christ's love, it's a great message. Not many want to wade into areas that might step on somebody's toes.
So we come down to this, do we preach the absolute truth or do we preach the truth that everybody wants to hear.
The truth that the Bible is wide open to interpretation, that there really is no right or wrong or absolute truth. Just trust your feelings and you'll be fine.
Before long we begin to see the football, as a grape.

The man in the office

2006-06-07T10:23:00.000-05:00

Being a pastor has to be a difficult job.
I mean think about it, he has to prepare a sermon every week that will motivate, challenge and uplift the people under his care. He has to call on the sick and dying, comfort those that have lost loved ones, plot a course for his church and then get people excited about following the course. At the same time he has to juggle a home life, and be a role model for people. He is watched very closely by the community, to make sure he does everything right. He is not supposed to get mad or upset, and well, we want him to be everything that were not.
Pretty tough job.
And yet I know some pretty good pastors, people that just love people, and love what they do.
And I think that's the key.
Loving people.
You know I have interviewed pastors, and it seems we get really interested in their education, their accomplishments, did they grow their former church?
I think really we need to be asking, do you get along with people?
You might think that's a funny question, but I was listening to a gentleman who had contacted a seminary, looking for a prospective pastor. The man in charge of placement got a large stack of papers and put them on his desk. He went on to say that on each piece of paper was a name of a person that had graduated the seminary and had enough knowledge to teach and preach effectively. But each of them had a problem.
They couldn't get along with people.
Working with people seems to be a lost art, and I think we can point to a couple of reasons why this is the case.
The first reason is that once some people become more educated, they tend to look down on those who aren't so well educated. If you want to get run out of your first church, treat them like their stupid. Talk down to them like your the only one who really knows what's going on. Then read a bunch of church growth books, and then try everything all at once, and then when it doesn't work, complain bitterly that it was your churches fault for the failure, not yours.
You have to earn your peoples trust before you do anything, they won't follow you if they don't like you. I once took a leadership class that stated that when you first take a new church, don't do anything new for at least two years. At first I thought that sounded a little crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more it makes sense. They need time to get used to you, and for you to build relationships and develop trust.
The second reason is more cultural, we don't hang around other people that much anymore. Call it what you want, but as a culture, we are building fences around ourselves. We don't just visit other people as much as we used to. Our homes have become our castles, and we prefer to be left alone to do what we want to do, when we want to do it. Oh were not rude to people who do show up at our door, but were sure glad when they leave.
In this type of culture, it's hard to develop social skills. When you only talk to family and people you know, it's makes it difficult to talk to people you don't know. We find that just avoiding to talk to these unknown people is the solution, which makes people think that you just don't like them (which may or may not be true). We don't learn humility, and being gracious. It's want I want and I want it NOW. That can be a real turn-off.
Look, I know I'm not a pastor, and I know that I really only have the slightest clue of what being a pastor is like. But I do know these three things,
1. Good pastors are in short supply. When you get a good one, hold on to him with all you have.
2. Many won't even consider the ministry, they see it as a low paying job.
3.Finding pastors that have people skills is becoming very hard to do.
Remember, pastors have to deal with people. You cannot become a shepard if the sheep you lead don't trust you. You can have all the degrees in the world, but if you don't love people like Christ loved people, your ministry will come up short.

Well, now you've done it.

2006-05-22T08:25:00.000-05:00

It's really takes a lot to get me angry.
I mean a LOT.
I have been complimented on my mild manner demeanor. The calm in the middle of the storm.
But now I'm ticked.
I was reading something in the local paper's web site, a soldier who had been killed in Iraq was going to be laid to rest.
And a Kansas based Baptist "church" was going to protest at the funeral.
Look, I know that they have the right to protest, we all do as Americans.
But at a funeral?!?
Maybe your not happy with the country, our president, or the war.
Fine, I'm sure many people aren't happy either.
And if you want to protest, fine, do it at your church, your town square, heck do it at the White House if you want.
But can we at least give this American man, someone who died for something bigger than himself, a peaceful and respectful funeral?
Is that to much to ask?
Now that makes me mad enough, but wait there's more.
This "church" says that these soldiers are dying because "God is punishing them for the sins of Americans".
Please, please, please, can we stop trying to use God to move our agendas?
And EVERYBODY'S doing it.
From Pat Robertson to these folks, everybody just knows exactly what God's thinking, what He is doing and what He is going to do. And wow, wouldn't you know it, God thinks just like we do!
And if you know so much about God, then you know that if God was REALLY angry, He wouldn't mess around. We'd all be dead.
Is God happy with America? Kiddies God can't be happy looking at the WORLD, not just America.
And if you READ your Bibles, you would find that these things are going to happen, earthquakes,
wars, etc..
These things shouldn't shock you.
Maybe what ticks me the most is the attitude that everybody else is sinning, but were not. Punish America, but since I'm perfect, give me all the blessings. I deserve it.
If I had five minutes with the "pastor" of this "church", I would calmly ask him a simple question. How is disturbing the funeral of a fellow human being, ministry? How about offering support to the family, maybe you don't agree with the cause he died for, but how about loving the hurting people anyway?
Let's see there was this guy, Jesus was His name I think, yeah, and He, like, loved people even though He didn't always like what the people did.
What a concept.
And guess what, when Jesus did love these people, they like, followed Him.
Wow.
The real tragedy in all of this is it just makes it that much harder to reach the lost, because nobody wants to be a part of a group that says there all about love, but doesn't show it.
The Christian in me knows I have to forgive these people, and I do. The human inside me has a hard time forgiving people who protest a funeral for someone who protects the very freedom that allows them to protest.
In fact the human part of me thinks that if they hate this country that much, there is a plane leaving this country every minute or two. If they think they can do better somewhere else, they are free to leave.
And when I hear things like, God is punishing us for this or that, I would remind people of what Job found out when he finally got around to asking God why.
In a nutshell God said, I'm a whole lot smarter than you, and I've got things under control.
That's good enough for me.
So instead of pointing fingers at everybody else for what they are doing wrong, how about doing what Jesus told us to do.
Minister to His creation, in a kind and loving way.
You remember don't you?
And do you know what?
If we would show a little bit of love to these people, they might just want to be like us.
Do we dare?

Dear Church...

2006-05-16T10:16:00.000-05:00

Have you looked outside lately?
Sometimes I think were stuck in one of those Star Trek episodes, the one when they get stuck in a time warp.
I look at the people in our church, all of them dress nice. I don't see any tattoos (except a few WWII Navy vets) and the only earrings I see are on the ladies.
But is that reality?
I guess what I'm saying is the culture that exists inside the church, reflect the culture outside the church?
I think we have stuck our heads in the sand, we have pretended that the world outside is still Ozzie and Harriet. That people will just stumble into our church, see the error of their ways, and become like us.
The truth is...
I'm not sure they want to be like us.
I know, I know what's wrong with being like us?
Well, it just doesn't fit them.
I'm not sure we are willing to get messy, and church, the world outside is VERY messy. If we build relationships with people, lost people, it will get messy. There stories are different, they didn't grow up like you and I did. They are products of a generation gone nuts, to do it if it feels good, to the postmodern view that there is really no truth at all, just what they can see or feel. They have been hurt by their parents, their friends, and sometimes even the church. They have expressed their hurt in ways that make us cringe, and they don't feel lost because they feel the only thing they can count on is themselves.
Are we ready to minister to that type of person?
Sadly the truth is no, and if we pretend they don't exist, maybe they will just go away.
The church that understands the culture, and figures out how to minister to this very different, hurting people, will be the church that God wants the church to be. One that displays His love for ALL of His creation.
But the choice is yours, we can all meet on Sunday like we always do, sing our songs, listen to the preacher, and go home. Working in the service of Christ becomes duty, come to church, sing or teach when asked to.
Reaching people, building bridges for people, is somebody else's job. But don't worry, when someone new does come, we will be sure to judge them, making sure that meet our standards.
Is it any wonder they don't want to become like us?
If I'm honest, church would be nice and comfortable if we all looked nice, believed the same things. It wouldn't be messy at all. Nice and clean, and who doesn't want that?
And I find that God gives us what we want, our lack of ministry to the world and our attention on ourselves becomes our mantra, instead of trusting God we trust ourselves. Soon we wither and die.
Our church becomes a tomb, once a place of hope and light, now holds only pomp and tradition, budgets and leaf raking, until the last few people decide to close the doors.
But there is hope, but it will cost you more than you have ever been willing to give...
your comfort.

How lucky I am

2006-05-12T10:56:00.000-05:00

Wow it's been awhile.
And it's been REALLY busy.
What some of you know and probably a few of you don't is that the Midwest Region of my denomination did a really crazy thing.
They elected me president.
If they only knew.
Anyway yesterday was my first meeting. I have to admit I was nervous. Would I stumble, look confused or just plain blow it?
Well I'm not really sure how I did, but the people that can answer that is the subject of this entry.
I am convinced that a leader is only as good as the people that surround him.
If that is indeed true, I'm going to look really good.
I am going to introduce them to you.
VP Fred, Fred is a guy that I think is going to work out great. He asked questions and seems very interested in what is going on. He wants to see the region get better, and that is a quality that I like.
Clerk Stan, I have not know Stan very long but I instantly liked him, he has that sense of humor that I love, and he has a gentle heart. He thinks before he speaks, which is a quality that can be in short supply in this day and age.
Director Bob, Bob is so complex I'm not sure were to start. I would say he is a friend that has a billion things running through his head at any one time. Bob may have his faults, but he wants the region to improve. Sometimes the way he does things rubs people the wrong way, but he is willing to work.
Don, Don is new to the group, but I can tell he is a sharp guy. He didn't say much, but I thought what he did say was good stuff.
Andy, Andy would admit that he is a tecno-geek. He is smart and is a detail person, that can laugh. What a concept.
Donetta, One of two ladies in our group. Donetta is a pretty sharp gal herself and will tell you what she thinks.
Brian, My good friend, who is head of our church planting commission. If you were to pick a guy for church planting, Brian has all the tools. He has a strange ability to understand culture and it's shifts. He is more concerned about growing the kingdom than denomination growth, and that's cool with me. He is my sounding board and reminds me to think outside of the box.
Mark, If there was one guy that I was worried about, it was Mark. This guy can preach the paint off the walls. His church has grown to 900 and he is an evangelist that can pastor. A rare gift. I hope he can tolerate me leading, I know it has to be tough on such a strong leader to let someone else drive the horses. If he can put up with me, he will be a major asset.
Randy, Randy is the new head of our church and pastor relations. This commission has been, in the past, the most disappointing. Randy is a breath of fresh air, and I like the direction he wants to take this group. I am expecting great things from him.
Sandi, Sandi wasn't in the meeting, but I have been in them with her before. Sandi is head of our cross cultural ministries. Sandi has a heart for missions and is always thinking of them and their well being.
Dave, My pastor, and the quiet one. This is the guy that I never know what he is thinking, but I do know this, he can pick apart financial stuff, which is more than I can do.
Ned, Finally our treasurer, and I guy I would trust with my savings. Ned is unique for treasurer because he wants you to spend money. His idea is that if your not spending money, your not doing anything. He wants you to submit plans and goals, not just budget numbers.
Pretty cool huh?
Finally I have to say the human that helps me the most isn't even on the board. That person is my wife, who puts up with the phone calls, and the time it takes away from her. She is part of my inner circle and she will tell me what's on her mind. God gave me a help mate, and she has been just that.
For the next two years (Lord willing) I will be able to work with this group.
And I'm sure I couldn't pick better people if I tried.

To wear the uniform

2006-04-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

I can remember it to this day.
I was handed the blue and white number 34 Martinsville basketball jersey.
And I had cold chills.
And not just any jersey, but the varsity jersey. The one I had seen others wear.
Now this may not seem like a bid deal to some of you, but for a tall, lanky introvert from the wrong side of the tracks, it was a huge deal.
And you have to understand, in the eighties, Martinsville basketball was something special. Other teams always had to look out for us, we may have not won every game, but we played hard, and we always won more than we lost.
Being on the team meant you were part of a special group of guys that was willing to give up a lot of time, sweat and sometimes blood for the good of the team.
And I was one of the "special" ones.
To wear this uniform however had costs. I spent a huge amount time in the gym. While some of my friends were doing stuff, I played basketball.
We had a strict code of conduct, which was good, but we had a coach that demanded perfection from us on the court. You might say he was kind of like Bob Knight, only not quite as bad.
My point?
To wear the uniform, it's going to cost you something.
Jesus said as much in the Bible, count the cost before you follow me. Understand what this will cost you.
And when I think of my life, God didn't deliver me from being a drug addict, an alcoholic or motorcycle gang member.
I remember reading amazing stories of ex-gang members being saved, drug addicts coming to Christ.
Great and wonderful stories.
But I wonder did anyone even notice the change in me?
I think as Christians we tend to put sin at different levels. My sin isn't as bad as your sin.
But remember, God doesn't see it that way.
I think we tend to find behaviors we don't like, then label it as sin. As long as we don't do it and we see others that do, we must be better than them, never mind what the the Bible says or doesn't say about it. I think the Bible calls that, the rules of men.
I've noticed 2 schools of thought on this from the church landscape of today.
View#1- The conservative approach, which I define as the don't smoke, drink or cuss approach. Those who label sin as what as seen on the outside. They have a very hard time with the thought of Jesus drinking anything but water. They feel that you can tell if someone is a believer by watching what they do or say. They just know God is against drinking and smoking and having church anywhere but in a church sanctuary.
View#2- The liberal approach, which I define as the do whatever you want since your never going to be perfect anyway approach. This group seemed to be the happier bunch, since they don't feel a need to change what they do. They love all the verses about God's grace and are content with themselves and their approach to Christianity. They want to have church anywhere but in a normal church environment.
Now these are the two extremes, and some people have a little of each. We tend to find the things we like and do those things and give up trying to do the things that are difficult.
I have problems with both views.
In the first approach I tend to find to many judgmental people who think they are perfect and make themselves feel better by pointing out sin in others. I want to state this very clearly, you are not without sin. The Bible makes this point very clear. You might have everybody fooled by your actions, but God knows your heart.
In the second approach I tend to find people who can't make up their minds who they want to follow. Since perfection is not going to happen, why try? The Bible makes it clear that we are a NEW creation. The old is gone, and we must put on the new. Does this make us perfect?
No, but I'd like to think people notice that we are a little bit different.
Should we at least try to live our lives better? If we have the uniform of Christ on, shouldn't we work as hard as we can to please Him?
As I see it, the Christian walk is a journey. Paul describes it as a race, a long race. We learn more about our Savior as we mature, and in that maturity we need to take on more of His ways. Nobody starts the race knowing everything, and we will stumble. The point is to continue running.
Jesus said in John that if we love Him we will obey Him.
Maybe we don't love Him as much as we say we do, since we can't seem to obey His word. I say this knowing that He loves me way more than I could ever love Him.
I didn't play basketball my senior year, I began to see that I just wasn't going to be good enough to start my final year. Younger and better players were coming up and it just wasn't fun anymore. You are much more willing to work hard when you know that there is a reward at the end of the tunnel.
Jesus knows I will never be good enough to approach God without His sacrifice, but the question is am I willing to sacrifice my life, all of my life, for Him?
I still have my high school basketball jersey at home. I laugh when I look at it, thinking I once could fit into it, but still I handle it with care, knowing what I sacrificed for it.
Knowing what Christ sacrificed for us, shouldn't we handle our relationship with Him with care?

NOT THE EASTER BUNNY!!!

2006-04-13T12:05:00.000-05:00

This is a good one.
It seems that the city council of St Paul Minnesota has outlawed (gulp) the Easter Bunny.
What's really funny is the reason.
It might offend non-Christians.
I read this while looking at an article by Cal Thomas, who said, in a nutshell, that people just don't get Easter.
I would like to inform the fine city council of St Paul that the Easter Bunny did not die a cruel death on a cross, then rise on the the third day.
In fact, the Easter Bunny was probably created to make Easter more attractive to those who either deny Christ or simply don't want to think about it.
This really doesn't surprise me, in a culture that is so paranoid about offending anyone, except Christians of course.
But pick on the poor Easter Bunny?
Shocking.
Maybe if I'm offensive, the city of St Paul will outlaw me.
Well it's not like me, but I'm going to try it.
1. I want to be offensive to those who only come to church on Easter and Christmas. The church and the sacred holidays were not created so you can dress up nice and show up twice a year. I really think some of you think your doing the church a favor by showing up. Your always welcome however, and that welcome goes for all the other Sundays as well.
2. I want to be offensive to Sunday morning "tippers". You know, the people who throw God a dollar every Sunday. I mean they have been giving God a dollar for thirty years. Doesn't God deserve a cost of living increase? You probably got a raise, shouldn't God get one? Look if your REALLY that poor, just keep your buck. You must need your cash more than the church does.
3. I want to be offensive to all of you legalistic Christians. I have actually witnessed, at a former church I attended, the women of the church accuse each other of wearing make-up and having finger nail polish on. I only wish I was kidding. When you start focusing on "rules" and stop doing ministry, it won't be long and you will be the only one sitting in your church. Nobody else is going to be able to live up to your standards. Remember, Christ had his harshest words for those who "appeared" to be following the rules, but Jesus knew better. No one is without sin, so stop acting like you haven't even heard of the word.
4. I want to be offensive to those pastors who are bad mouthing other denominations from the pulpit. Can't you come up with something to preach about besides the church across the street (usually the one that has more cars parked in the parking lot)? Aren't you to lead your flock and let the pastor of the other church lead his? Maybe your jealous, maybe you think that your denomination is the only one that is right. If your leading your church in the right direction, God will bless you. Concentrate on that.
Man that felt good.
You will notice I was offensive to some church going folk.
Why?
Because a lot of people don't attend churches for the reasons I listed above (I'm sure there's more, but I'm kind of new at this offensive thing). They see the church saying one thing and doing another.
Look, I'm not perfect (you can ask my wife about that one) and I hope I'm not making anyone believe that I am. I am a poor excuse for a follower of Christ. I sin every day with my thoughts and in my heart. I am nothing without the Grace of God, because I will never be "good enough".
And I hope your not offended by that.

The Wrong Answer

2006-03-30T15:15:00.000-06:00

As hard as it is to believe, I wasn't surprised.
I was listening to a radio program the other day while going home from work, the host was interviewing a man who had spent 3 years (off and on) as a homeless man.
He was a college student who wanted to know what life was like out on the streets and he was a Christian.
Maybe you can see where I'm going.
The host asked how he was received at the churches he attended, in the cities he did his homeless act in.
The responses he got from the churches didn't surprise me, some escorted him off the church grounds, some asked if they could help him. It was a pretty even mix.
But then he told the story of asking a pastor of a church if the church could help him get some food. The guy was really playing the part of a homeless man, he hadn't eaten for quite a while and he hadn't showered in a week.
The pastor's response?
"We don't do that, we feel God has called us just to worship".
Am I surprised by that?
No.
You see if we are honest we at least feel the same way about dirty people or lost people or hurting people as the pastor of that church. We just don't say it.
It makes following Christ pretty easy, I don't have to care about anybody or anything else. We just want to worship in our little club. There is no risk of being taken advantage of or being deceived. The best part is we can keep the undesirable people out while keeping the "good" people in.
Now I think most churches have figured out that some people simply work the system to keep from working. It's sad when the church has to look out for con artists.
But we are not talking about money in this case. We are talking about food. Driving somebody down to Mickey D's.
I wonder how the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand would have went, "I'm sorry about the fact you are all hungry, I didn't come to earth to feed you". "That's not my thing, my Father called me to die on the cross for you, that's it". "Get a job or eat before you come next time".
I don't think the story would have worked as well.
God has called us to take care of "the least of these". Like it or not (and let's be honest, you and I don't like it) the church has been called to help people. We are to worship, but it can't end there. We cannot wrap ourselves into the church and take a blind eye to the needs around us.
Now before you think I'm perfect, don't. I struggle here as much as anyone else. I have a bad habit of judging people by what I see. I have to make that leap of faith, and begin the relationship process. As I have grown older, I find it a little easier to do. I still have a long way to go.
You see our love is so conditional, I will love the people like me, who think like I do, who believe like I do. I'm really glad that Christ's love for us isn't conditional, we would all be in trouble.
I hope the dirty, lost and hurting find love when they come to you.
Or will they find that the love you claim to have for Christ leaves you with no room to love others.

Your gonna, and you do, but you may not realize it

2006-03-24T14:03:00.000-06:00

You will worship.
Now you may be reading this and think, "I don't worship anything or anybody".
But your wrong.
I never really thought about it until I read the "Purpose driven life". The part where it says we are created to worship.
You know I really had not looked at worship that way.
I don't know how your day starts, but mine starts with a 35-40 minute commute, and I see all of you Earnhardt people. I don't think a day goes by that I don't see a number "3" on the back of somebody's windshield (also I think I have seen Calvin pee on everything that a kid can pee on). You may not think you worship the man, but I think several worship his memory.
The more I thought about it, even good Christian people worship things besides Christ, take me for instance. I have composed a list of the things I worship;
The LA Dodgers (I have enough Dodgers stuff to make a Giants fan go into a rage).
My shop (it's really cool, concrete floor and everything).
The TV (where I spend way way way to much time).
My Kubota (bigger than a garden tractor).
The Green Bay Packers (only when their winning).
Honda Ridgeline (I don't even have one of those, but man they are so cool).
The old Dodge Chargers (see old blog on that one).
My money (I don't have a great deal of this, but I can tie up what I do have in more cool stuff).
Naval history (I have enough books on this subject to start my own library).
My computer (spend way to much time playing games that make the free world safe from any possible threats).
And that's just the short list.
Now I have poked a little fun at myself, but if we are really honest with ourselves we can find all kinds of things that we chase after, cheer for, and well, worship and since God created us to do that, we are only doing what comes natural.
But here is the problem, our God is a jealous God.
Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't have hobbies or other interests, but we have to be careful that these things don't become our gods.
Even our own children can become our objects of worship.
It brings us back to our need for Christ and His grace, because as I am a blaring example, we are not a perfect people. Having said that however we do need to take a serious look at what or who we worship. I remember Christ telling His would be followers that the cost of following Him would be high. It would mean to follow and worship Him only. For some the cost was simply to high.
I have heard it said that you can tell what or who a person worships by looking at their checkbook and by looking at how they spend their time.
We might find that the person we worship the most is...ourselves.

My Prayer

2006-03-22T15:21:00.000-06:00

I need a minute with you.
I know it seems like I ask you for a lot of stuff, like your Santa Claus. I guess it comes from hearing others pray for stuff. It just seems natural to ask for people to be well, blessings for me, my family, my church.
I've tried talking to you like I would talk to my friends, but it just doesn't seem right. Besides I find myself asking my friends for stuff too.
Why do I find myself asking for this or that? Is it my selfish heart? Probably, I can be selfish, and if anybody would know that, you would.
I can find so many more things to do than spend time with you.
I know that's not fair, you have given me far more than I deserve. You have blessed me in so many ways, my work, my family, my home, my friends, my church. Not to mention that eternal life thing. That's a pretty good return for what little I have given you.
I guess that brings up something that I know we have talked about before.
You know what this is about.
Man have we been over this ground before.
And I have a simple way out of this.
Just tell me what you want me to do. I mean it.
And I don't want the still small voice thing, I want the answer in a LOUD CLEAR VOICE.
Let's not mess around. I'm 40 for pete's sake so I've only got a few good years left.
Also, while were at it, and me being selfish of course, I hope you take into consideration what I have now. My boys love the school they attend, my wife has her dream job, and as far as my job goes, this is the best place I have ever worked. You wouldn't throw a wrench into all of that, would you?
Look, a lot of people have told me I should do this, but I'm very interested in what you think.
So let's have it, yea or nay. Tell me what you want, and then let's move on. I need to know what you want from me. This question has been driving me nuts for years, so let's finish this, here and now.
Do you really think I have the heart for this? I'm curious as to why you made me with the gifts I have. Am I doing all that you want me to do or do you have something bigger for me?
Remember, LOUD CLEAR VOICE.
Well I'm going to wrap this up, but before I go, do you remember the love letter I sent the girl I would eventually marry? I know you do. I told her that I thought you had something special planned for my life, I just wasn't sure what that would be.
Well here I am, twenty years later, and I'm still not sure.
I'm glad your a patient God.
Amen.

The church revival in today's culture

2006-03-16T11:19:00.000-06:00

Are they still relevant?
My church just completed a 4 night revival. Every spring we try to plan a revival, and we have had some great speakers.
Our latest revival was no different.
Pastor Brian Miller came and shared his heart with us. He brought his worship band from his church and they rocked.
As I listened to his messages I had to cover up my toes. Maybe Brian and I are so close that God used him to speak to me. It was the message my church and myself needed to hear.
I find that revivals have changed a lot over the years. In the old days, revivals were places where the lost came in droves to find Christ. Some revivals were extended because people just kept coming and accepting Christ. That still happens at some crusades. But church revivals have changed.
The truth is that the lost in our world are not coming to revivals, or church for that matter. In the old days people had at least grown up in or around church. They had learned some stuff in Sunday schools when they were young because almost everybody went to some church. If you didn't go to church, you were a heathen and no self respecting person wanted that label.
Fast forward about 40-50 years and we find in today's culture that many are growing up without ever stepping into a church.
What changed?
You can point your finger at many things, the church not changing with the times in respect to it's worship and it's ministries, ignoring the needs of the communities that it served, internal scandals and strife, the focus on itself. That was just the short list.
I have some other ideas, and Brian touched on them beautifully.
Reason #1
We don't want imperfect people in our midst.
That sounds strange, you know, since nobody's perfect, but I'm afraid it's true. We like order, we like to be around people who know the rules and abide by them. Sit down and shut up, keep your kids under control or take them out. You see that way everybody can come and worship without feeling uncomfortable. Of course the problem with this is two fold. First we forget that we AREN'T perfect and second, no lost person wants to come within 10 miles of the church for fear that they will have to become perfect or get "the look". People don't need to be looked down upon and guess what, they won't make an effort to get up, get them and the kids ready, just to come and feel like they don't belong. Stick a thousand "welcome" signs on the church if you want to, but it's just not going to happen. The church thinks that it's friendly, and they are, to the extent that we will stick out our hands (sometimes), but really develop a relationship?
Forget about it.
Reason #2
The church stopped jumping.
I guess you had to be at the revival to get that one, but in a nutshell the church got comfortable and it just sat down. God wants to give us an adventure, but we would rather sit on the bench. There are so many people in need, so much work for us to do, and God is waiting for His church to move. I have to agree with what Brian said, instead of moving we decide to wrap ourselves into our church so much that we stop listening to what is going on outside the four walls of our sanctuary. Following Christ becomes tradition, service times, and announcements in the bulletin. But it's safe, nice and comfortable. God gives us what we want, and our church slowly dies a quiet death.
I think that there is a need for revival in our churches today, and Brian addressed that need. The Christians of today's church need to be reminded on what the cost of following Christ is.
And if anybody needed to be reminded, that person is me.

War

2006-03-06T14:20:00.000-06:00

Okay, I have a question.
Think about the battles that the people of Israel fought with the surrounding nations. The ones that God told them to fight.
Got it?
Now my question, why did God make them fight?
I mean look, God could have simply said the word and blammo! Enemy dead.
The way it worked out, they fought and they died. The battle was won (or lost depending on what God wanted them to do) but at a human cost.
I know the simple answer is that man sinned and because of that we die. I got that part, but why did God make his own people fight?
War is a horrible thing, nation verses nation. Young and old, soldier and civilian suffer. Families are torn apart, huge amounts of money are expended and the scars can last a lifetime.
The only answer I can come up with is that God wanted the victory to cost something. It would make His people appreciate their freedom more if it cost them.
It may not be the right answer, but it's the only thing I can come up with.
People have asked me about the current war, is it right or is it wrong? As a Christian I have the same thoughts that Alvin York had before he entered the fighting of WWI. The book says not to kill (the book being the Bible), so we shouldn't kill.
I have to remember that the same God who gave Moses those words also told the people of Israel that when He gave the go ahead to go to war, in some of the instances they were to kill EVERYTHING. Men, women and children, period.
So when God said "Do not kill" He must have been speaking of murder, outside of the war scenario.
The human part of me wants to see Muslim terrorists pay for 9-11, and I think that's a fairly common reaction to the attacks that were made on the United States.
So my problem is balancing forgiveness and revenge.
Pretty tough to do.
I've thought a lot lately about war and it's cost. I watch youngsters play war, cowboys and Indians and I wonder, where do they learn to fight?
If we are created in God's image (which we are) and the Bible says that God is a warrior, do we have the warrior instinct in us? Are we born with the instinct to fight to protect our loved ones and our way of life?
I have a great respect for veterans of all wars. They went when their nation called. Many didn't get the chance to come home. We owe a them a great deal.
Should we be in Iraq? You can argue that one pretty hard either way and I will not muddy the waters here. As long as their are Americans risking their lives in harms way, they have my support.
So for now wars and rumors of wars will be our lot. I'm looking forward to the time Isaiah spoke about, when soldiers will have no need for their boots anymore, and we will burn all of the bandages.
Peace.

The Truth part 2

2006-02-23T12:40:00.000-06:00

I have a request.
Brian commented, "I'm not sure where you landed on this. Maybe you didn't land, but the ending felt like an abrupt landing. I'd really like to hear you say some more about this."
Well the last post may have pushed the deep thinking part of my brain past its limits, but I'll try to explain my thoughts (if that's possible).
I have always watched people from a distance, to watch how they act and react. To listen to their words, their passions. To read their body language, the volume of their voice and their swagger. But what I find most interesting is how people convey to others and how people respond to the truth.
If that truth is the Word of God, people respond differently. The parable of the sower is a good example of what people do with truth. They accept or reject.
Now let's just say for fun we want to change the truth.
Let's say we don't like what we hear, so we create our "truth". When told we are wrong we cry foul and say "there really isn't one truth" and "our truth is just as good as yours!"
But is it the truth?
Hitler was a master at creating and conveying his special "truth". He worked the podium and speaker in such a way that made people follow him to their ultimate defeat and destruction. I think these people wanted so badly to believe in what Hitler was saying, that they looked the other way and began to believe every word that he said.
Is truth, like beauty, in the eyes of the beholder?
Let's take something from today, like global warming. You can find a hundred scientist who say it exists, and you can find a hundred who say it doesn't. And while I'm sure they can all give us data to prove their points, I wonder, does how they see the world influence how the see global warming? Would a scientist who worked for Greenpeace see the data in the same way the Heritage Foundation scientist would? My guess is no.
The data would be the constant, or truth, yet these two very different groups would see the data or truth in a very different light. Each would promote their version of the truth to be the correct truth.
I guess maybe what I'm ultimately saying is that we have so many different views of the world and we now have so many ways of distributing our views that we have the ability to convince people of things, that may not be the truth.
Look at reality television.
While it claims to be "reality", I would contend that it is really the farthest thing from reality. Even shows that do a good work, like re-doing homes or the super nanny, are not reality. If you have brats for kids or need a home make over, chances are they are not going to pull up at your door. The real reality is your going to have to fix those things yourself. Waiting on the lottery? The truth is that the odds are so far out that you might have a better chance of being hit by lightning.
And yet.
Because people want to believe in something, a truth that really isn't truth, that they continue to hope their six numbers come up, or the super nanny just happens to hear the kids fighting and pops in.
Truth is sometimes what we want it to be, not what it really is.
Many people want to believe there isn't a hell, they want to believe that everybody goes to heaven with a harp and a new set of wings. That becomes their truth. They simply refuse to listen or believe anything else.
I hope as a people we never stop searching for the real truth, but when we find it we must set aside our feelings and judge the truth on its own, without an agenda.
This probably will not answer Brian's questions, and the truth is it may have him asking even more questions.
But for right now, my brain hurts.

The Truth

2006-02-20T14:28:00.000-06:00

Is there anything more elusive?
It is something that everyone longs for, yet when confronted with it, the same people deny it. I have wanted to talk about it for so long, but I just couldn't find the words to express my feelings. I did today.
I was reading an article about the British right wing historian David Irving's contention that the holocaust did not happen. His point was that most of the millions of Jews that died at the concentration camps, died of diseases and not by the use of torture and the gas chambers.
His argument is not new, many people deny the holocaust for one reason or another, usually because it goes along with their hatred of the Jews. Now that David has been sentenced to 10 years for making these allegations, he has now stated that the holocaust did happen.
So truth is relative?
We all see the world in a different light. Conservatives see truth differently than liberals do. Pro choice people see truth differently than anti-abortion people do. The NRA people see truth differently than the gun control people do. This just goes on and on.
So is truth the truth or is truth just what we think it is?
The examples of relative truth is everywhere, many people think that Elvis is still alive, that all college and pro sports are fixed, the grassy knoll, and of course the denial of the holocaust.
And yet people can look at solid evidence to the contrary, but continue to believe their "truth".
This "relative" truth creeps into our lives. We establish a position, then we create truth around that position. We yell and scream, pound our fist on the table and hold our truth to be beyond question. Even when we are proven wrong we still cannot admit that perhaps our truth wasn't the truth after all. We then go to the name calling and fit throwing phase in hopes people won't dig to deeply into our truth.
I don't like gray areas, I want the truth. It is either right or it is wrong, black or white.
I went searching for the truth about the teachings of Calvin or in other words Calvinism. I wanted to hear both sides of the argument so I bought the book "Debating Calvinism" and in it two very intelligent Biblical scholars wrote letters back and forth to each other. Each man stated his point, the other man made a counterpoint, and on and on it went. It was interesting to read each mans passion for his "truth". I'm afraid that some Biblical truths will always be a point of conflict between believers, but it is interesting the way we use our Bibles to prove our 'truths". Here was two men reading the same truth, and yet seeing two different truths.
That has always interested me.
I want to look at truth as a rock, a solid foundation, unwavering no matter what storm is raging around it. As people we should either accept it or disagree with it, but don't try to change it just because you don't like it. It is what it is.
Which brings me to my last point. We are a spiritual people, but not everyone believes in our God. They hear the truth, but because it doesn't fit their lifestyle or whatever, they search for another god. One that fits their "truth". It happened in the Old Testament as the people of Israel chased after the gods of their neighbors. The truth they had been a witness to was simply not their "truth" anymore.
So are you searching for the real truth or do you think you know what the real truth is?
It can be a tough question,
and that's the truth.

Ode to Mr Doe.

2006-02-17T07:58:00.000-06:00

You know who you are.
I want to talk about people that don't want to be talked about.
They attend our churches, but they are very quiet, and yet their handiwork is everywhere.
In my church we have several people who work behind the scenes, and they do a great job.
I thank the good Lord we have them.
But I'm thinking of one man, and I find that most churches have at least one, that can fix anything and is always ready to donate his time and money to the church. Now I know there can be several people who fit that mold, but what is so unique about this special person is he never wants the spotlight. He hates being recognized, he just wants to serve his God with his special talents.
Now because he wants to remain out of the spotlight I won't use his name, we will call him Mr. Doe.
Mr Doe is an artist with the hammer and saw, wiring and the hedge trimmer. The church needs a new VCR-DVD combo unit, amazingly one appears, and when he is asked about it he calmly says that "I saw one fall out of the back of a truck I was following, I stopped and picked it up and it still works", (I have to admit I fell for this at first, until he told me the same thing about a new bathroom sink the church needed).
I want so badly to tell you who he is, I love this guy and I think his work needs to be recognized, but I can't and I won't.
It is so neat that in this day and age of self gratification and ego stroking there are people who want just to serve without recognition.
So many will do things in the church, but they want the spotlight shined on them. Look what I did, look at what I have sacrificed. See how special and important I am. It becomes less Christ service and more self service.
So today Mr. Doe I want to shine a little light on you, both in my church and in the other churches your special kind attend all over the world. You may think that nobody knows what you do, but don't worry, God knows and He will reward you when it counts. I thank the Lord for you and your kind. You are an example of true servant hood, and my hope is that we all catch your kind and gentle spirit.
To coin a bad commercial slogan,
this blogs for you!

Youth Night

2006-02-13T07:29:00.000-06:00

I hate having this feeling.
Every so often my youth group has the Sunday evening service. They pick the music and the format. They pretty much have free reign. As with most teens they needed a little prodding from me to come up with something. All in all it went pretty well, they decided to do the same thing upstairs as we do downstairs when we are by ourselves.
The way we start our time together is spending about 10 minutes just talking. I bring some pop and sometimes I'll bring some chips. I let them talk about anything and everything that goes on in their life. So to emulate that I had the adults just take 5 minutes to meet and greet. They got up a walked around and talked to each other. I thought that was pretty cool. So far so good.
I had the girls lead us in a couple of worship songs. That was fine, I like it when they pick the music because it's something that's got a pretty good beat to it.
Then came game time.
I played a version of Hollywood squares, I picked a couple of ladies from the congregation and I had my teens be the squares. Everything was going fine, until...
one of the ladies picked a teen boy. Now this kid is a great kid, but he is one of the shy ones. He would do anything that I would ask him to do, as long as it wasn't anything that would shine the spotlight directly on him. I asked him a question, and then I realized what I had done. I put the spotlight on him. He stammered, answered the question with the wrong answer and then blurted out "I don't know". I instantly knew I had messed up.
After our game we did our lesson, which funny enough was on wisdom. Boy if anyone needed to hear that one it was me. As I did the lesson I couldn't help but feel horrible about what I had done. I should have picked a multiple choice question for him. I really blew it.
I remember back to my Campus Life days, I was doing a lesson on dating. I said something like "you go to her parents house and you discover that her mom is crazy". I said it really without thinking, I thought it was funny because that situation would NEVER happen, right? Well wrong, one of my kids mothers had some mental illness issues. He was hurt by what I had said. I didn't mean to hurt anyone and I didn't know about her illness, but yet I had hurt someone.
I hate that feeling.
It's times like these that make me want to crawl back to my pew and become a spectator. Just become a pew potato. Just sit and watch others do stuff. No risk of hurting anyone, no risk of making the wrong call. No risk at all.
Many people have told me that I would make a good pastor, I always smile and thank them for their comment, but I know in my heart that sooner or later my mouth would get me in trouble. I know pastors aren't perfect and I know I'm not perfect. But the reality is that many people think that they should be. Always say the right thing at the right time. I have never been able to do that. Much like my young friend, I stammer and when something does come out, it's never good enough in my eyes.
God uses imperfect people. I understand my role as a leader is to listen to God. To do the best that I can with what God has given me. I just wish that I could do that without messing up. I know that nobody does it without making mistakes, but when your a leader, messing up can hurt a lot of people.
And I just hate that feeling.

Turning 40

2006-02-02T13:18:00.000-06:00

It really caught me off guard.
My father was leaving the hospital again, I was going to bring him home. Neither of us knew that in a few short months he would be gone.
He was dressed and ready to go, all but his shoes and socks. He got himself to the edge of the bed, looked down, and asked me something that he had never asked me before.
"Could you put them on for me buddy?"
I paused for a second, and began to put my dad's shoes and socks on his feet.
It's hard to explain what I felt. This was my father, the man I never could beat arm wrestling, the man who could lift anything and work from dawn to dusk with energy to spare. He had been growing weaker as time had past and I knew that, but I was jolted by his request. How many times had he put my shoes and socks on when I was a boy, and now I was doing it for him. It just seemed strange and foreign to me.
I have not looked at life the same since.
I guess as you get older you start to understand the life cycle more, as a Christian you begin to understand God's plan for a man's life. You really start understanding the "life is but a vapor" verse.
Now I'm not whacked out about turning 40, I'm not going to buy a sports car or anything like that. In fact I feel the same now as I did when I turned 30.
But there have been some changes.
My hair certainly is grayer, I have strange spots on my face and I have noticed a few more aches and pains, but other than that, I'm okay.
If anything is bothering me it's the speed at which time flies. My next 40 years, if the good Lord grants me that, probably will not be as much fun. Will the next 40 go as fast as the first?
Well enough of that, since I have become wiser in my years, I would like to make the following observations about life.
1. I have become content with who I am. I don't mean that in the "I'm perfect and don't need to improve" way. I mean that in the "I'm not sorry I wasn't a rock star" way. I made my life choices, for better or for worse, and I'm okay with where I have ended up. God has taken all of my questionable choices and turned them into blessings. God does that kind of stuff.
2. We are a people of extremes. Some might say that this is a recent thing, but I'm not so sure. As I study history I find that free people sometimes take extreme views. Freedom allows that.
If you think I'm wrong, think about the civil war. Talk about extremes. I think we just have more media outlets and talking heads who want to talk about their views.
3. People don't listen. Listening is a lost art. Everybody wants to talk, share what they think is right, but they refuse to listen to any other view. What's worse is that we don't even let people share their views because we have made our minds up that we are right and they are wrong. Let's have some conversation, and then decide how we feel about it.
4. I have become amused and saddened at the lengths men will go to find happiness.
5. I am neither Democrat or Republican. I vote for the man I feel will do the best job.
6. A bad day at the ocean is better than the best day at work.
7. A great wife and great sons bring their husband/father much joy.
(I'm starting to sound like King Solomon)
8. If you want to help your church, start by getting yourself closer to God.
9. I really don't think Phil Collins has that great of a voice, but he is one of my favorite singers.
10. I'm not an ultra conservative, but I have to admit I read Ann Coulter and Mike Adams.
11. I don't understand some pastors who think they have to use vulgar language to get their message out. Did Jesus do that?
12. While I'm on pastors, were does it say that all Christians will and should be healthy and wealthy?
13. The homosexual lifestyle is NOT pleasing to God. If you think it is, your reading the wrong Bible.
14. I am willing to admit I have made mistakes in my life that have hurt people.
15. Christians are not perfect, but somehow the rumor got started that we are.
16. The 69-70 Dodge Charger has got to be the coolest car ever built.
17. Life goes by so fast, but we continue to live like we will be here forever.
18. Never say crazy things that will get put into your class yearbook. Those things live forever.
19. I have only taken one good picture of myself in my whole life, and by the way what are those humps above my eyes?
20. I am one of the few people who can give Brian Miller the neck slash sign and live to talk about it.
Well that's all for now, look out big 50!

Is your church ISO9000?

2006-01-24T10:26:00.000-06:00

I found myself in one of those meetings again.
Oh this wasn't a church meeting, it was several years ago at the company I used to work for.
They were starting a quality program, following in the footsteps of the Ford Motor company's "quality is job one" theme. In a nutshell it basically talked about doing your job better, documenting everything, and whammo, your doing better work.
Everybody is happy right?
We starting having what seemed like dozens of meetings monthly. We talked about how to do our job's better and how we could make the process smoother.
Sounds really good doesn't it.
One problem.
We didn't talk about our customers.
What was their needs, how could we serve them better.
In our meetings we focused on ourselves, and I began to wonder, was even all the time we were taking in these meetings, causing us to ignore our customers even more?
Which brings me to today's church landscape.
Somewhere the church adapted business ideas to church growth and development. It was reasoned that if it worked for Jack at GE, it will work for the church.
So we all sat down and ground out purpose statements, I guess for some reason we forgot why our church exists.
I can just see Paul talking to the elders at Cornith, "look your never going to get anywhere until you have a bunch of meetings and come up with a purpose statement".
I know I sound cynical, and I know the church needs reminded from time to time what it's supposed to be doing.
But I really dislike the purpose statement.
It would be fine if we really believed and practiced what we spent so much time writing. The truth is we write a beautiful statement, but then we just keep doing things the way we always did. The other thing is this, have we become so out of whack that we need to be constantly reminded what we are here for? If that's the case we have some serious problems anyway.
I guess I hate working on something, just for the sake of working on something. If we are going to do things better, then let's do it, all the way. If your going to take up my time and just talk about doing things better, then I can find better uses for my time.
In all of this I'm afraid we are missing the point of ministry, and gauging success on numbers alone. Numbers are nice, but moving people closer in their relationship with Jesus is even better. I find that when we do that, numbers don't become a problem.
I heard today that Ford is laying off. It's really sad that many people are losing their jobs.
Did Ford become more concerned with their profits than their customers? If Ford's culture was truly the best quality going, would they be in this mess?
Tough questions.
Maybe a better one is, which model is the church going to follow?
Ford or Jesus Christ?
Hmmmmm.

Take care of things...

2006-01-18T10:25:00.000-06:00

"Take care of things until I get back"
Those words still echo in my mind. I was all of 10 years old, the oldest child in my family and my Dad was leaving.
He had to leave a lot when I was young, he worked at a pipeline company and sooner or later a pipe somewhere would start leaking. It was usually far enough away that Dad would have to be gone for weeks at a time, coming home only on the weekends.
Being 10 I really didn't think about it that much, Dad always came home. When he would walk in the door Friday night my sisters and I would jump on him and hug him, just tickled to death to see him again. I will never forget that oil smell in his clothes. It didn't matter what he smelled like.
Dad was home.
As I grew older I began to realize what "take care of things while I'm gone" meant. Dad's job was dangerous, he would weld on pipes that only moments before had oil, gasoline or other flammables running through it. I watched them carry my dad home once, he had broken his foot. He had been on fire, had a ditch cave in on him, and eventually he was crushed by pipe rolling down a ditch on top of him. He survived but it damaged his back to the point he couldn't do his job anymore. I never thought for a moment he wouldn't come back.
On the weeks he was gone my job was to take care of the chores, mowing and keeping wood in the stove. When we lived in the country, I fed the chickens and slopped the pigs (thankfully we only had 7 pigs and it didn't last very long). Dad counted on me to keep things going while he was gone. To keep an eye on things, help Mom and look after my siblings. Mom did most of it herself but I helped where I could.
Now that my father is with the Lord I still hear his words, "take care of things". What that means to me is that my responsibilities are to my family. My wife, children, Mom and my brothers and sisters. Dad would want me to watch over things for him in his absence. It was taught to me in my youth and I take that very seriously.
I have thought about what Jesus said when He left earth. He was saying take care of things until I get back. Take care of my family, my children. I will return, but until I do I want you to continue the work I started. Love each other and care for each other.
If I had to sum up what the church needs to do, it's to take care of things until our Father comes back. We are the Jesus that people are going to see. We are his representatives in His absence. We are to follow in His footsteps, not because of our feeling of duty, but because we love our Lord so much, we want Him to return and be pleased with us.
Church isn't about membership, money or service times.
It's about taking care of things until He returns.

What it's all about

2006-01-12T10:29:00.000-06:00

The room was slightly dark as my mother in law walked into the room.
She went to the nursing home to visit an elderly lady who was not expected to make it through the night. The oxygen mask could not hide the smile she gave when my mother in law squeezed her hand.
"I'm going to see Jesus, maybe tonight"
As my mother in law shared that with the Bible study group, I couldn't help but say a few "amens" to myself, my eyes teared up.
And my load lightened.
I can get really wrapped up in life. My plans and ambitions. What I feel is important. I can get equally wrapped up in church leadership. Doing stuff. Go, go, go.
And, to quote Solomon in Ecclesiastes, it is meaningless.
I don't mean that we should just sit around and be depressed because of that, but we should remind ourselves about what life is really all about.
It isn't what you see on the commercials you watch. It isn't the latest church growth fad. It isn't wealth or a hottie on your arm.
Should we work in church? Of course, but are the things that we feel are important, REALLY important?
Are we showing love or are we just talking about showing love?
Are the church doors really open to anybody or is their people we would rather not see in "our" church?
Is the property of the church, it's money and it's buildings more important than it's mission?
You see when it's all over, is it really going to matter if we had a balanced budget?
Tough questions.
And answered, at least I feel, by a little old lady who was excited and looking forward to seeing her savior face to face.
You see everything in life needs to prepare us for that meeting. I think we get so busy sometimes we wouldn't have enough time to meet with Him.
Think I'm kidding?
How much time do you spend each day talking to Him?
Don't have the time? Hmmmm.
I wish anyone who reads this success and happiness.
Just make sure in the end you can smile and say...
I'm going to see Jesus, maybe tonight!!

Keep on keeping on

2006-01-04T10:43:00.000-06:00

I had forgotten I had it.
In 2000 a brother in Christ had given me a devotional, it was neat, but I had packed it away into one of the many piles of books I have.
Being the new year I thought I would try to get myself back into some serious devotions.
Why had I stopped?
Well that is an interesting question.
Before my father passed away I was doing a devotional, keeping a spiritual journal, and even walking on a treadmill!!
And then my world crashed, my Dad died.
This may sound weird but even the town seemed like a different place because he was not in it anymore.
I know this may seem like a strange reason to stop doing devotions, I wasn't mad at God, my Dad had made the bad choices. It just seemed like my stride had been broken.
This brings us to today.
Being the new year I thought it was time to get back into it. Some serious time into God's word and some serious prayer time.
I opened my 6 year old devotional and guess what the first topic was about.
Perseverance.
You know, going strong even when the tough times come. Working even when the end is no where in sight.
Paul likened our journey to a race, a really long race. Which got me thinking.
I hate to run.
Running long distances is not my thing. When I was younger I would have much rather run the 50 yard dash instead of a long distance run. Face it, running a long race takes endurance, endurance comes from running, did I mention I hate to run?
You see if we are going to run in this race called life, and run it in a way that reflects Christ, it will take endurance. It will take training our hearts and minds to think in a new way, it means devoting time to our Savior and His words. Only then can we be prepared to handle all the stuff that gets thrown at us while we are running on the track.
But it means taking the time. Personal study, prayer and corporate worship are the means by which we gain endurance. We have to make these things our number one priority, even when we lose our stride, even when we just don't feel like it. We will have rest one day, but until then we must keep training.
So I have committed myself to get back into the word everyday and spend some serious one on one time with God everyday. I have to say it has made a difference already.
Now if I can just get back on the treadmill...

Church on Christmas?!?

2005-12-21T10:13:00.000-06:00

That doesn't sound like a bad thing.
But I guess there are churches that simply dismiss services on one of the two most important Christian holidays of the year.
You might think I'm baffled by this, well I'm not.
It's really an indicator of the state of some of the churches and Christians in our country.
Before I throw any stones however, let's be honest.
Church attendance on the other Sunday mornings, and for some churches Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, is becoming more of an option than a requirement for many believers. They seem to be saying I could care less.
Many churches see that their membership rolls are a lot higher than their weekly average attendance. I have heard it said in my own church, "if we could just get everybody here, we would have 300 people".
First let me say I'm guilty. When I was younger and less spiritually mature, I would miss Sunday nights and Wednesday nights because, if I'm honest, I wanted to spend that time doing my own thing. Nothing against church, I just felt like there was better uses for my time, (like watching TV). And remember folks, I was and still am an Elder of the church.
It required another Christian to hold me accountable, and bluntly told me "how can you be a leader of the church and not be here?".
Good question.
Through that other Christian, and a heavy dose of conviction by the Holy Spirit, I realized that if I am going to lead others in a committed Christian walk, I had better be willing to model that walk. I will use this time to urge any Christian leader out there who is reading this to be honest with themselves and ask themselves how important attendance is to their ministry. Are you saying "people need to be in church" but living "I'll go to church when I want and when I have nothing better to do". Pray about this.
Now what about Christians who are not leaders. Is Church attendance important or even a requirement?
In my view..Yes.
Why?
Well the Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:25 that we should not give up meeting together. Why?
Well if we read on it tells us that we need to encourage one another.
Bottom line is that we feed off of each other. That's a good thing.
The reason we don't want to come to church, or we don't want the church to change, or we don't like it when someone is sitting in "our pew", or blah blah blah, is because church is about us.
When is it convenient for us to come to church, where can I park or sit where it is more comfortable. My time and activities are far more important than anything we are doing at church.
What happened to sacrifice? What happened to carrying our cross? What happened to following Jesus no matter the cost?
We all need to remember the cost of our salvation, the agony and death of an innocent man, just so we could have the opportunity to spend eternity in a perfect place. Can you put a price tag on that? How much money and time is that worth to you? What is more important, your comfort or Jesus Christ?
Yes Virginia, we will be having service Sunday morning.

Closet Drummer

2005-12-16T15:28:00.000-06:00

To this day I don't know why.
When I was in High School, I decided I wanted to join the band. I wanted to play the drums.
"No" was my Dad's answer.
Now in some houses "no" means just keep bugging Dad until he gives in. The house I grew up in when Dad said "no", it meant the discussion ended.
Period.
So I picked the trombone, which I must say is not nearly as cool as being a drummer. My heart really wasn't in it. I played for a couple of years until basketball became my focus. Then I quit the trombone.
I wonder why Dad said "no". Was he worried about the noise? Did he think I would end up in some rock band with long hair and ear rings?
I mean I really enjoy the rhythms of songs. My taste in music can range across a lot of different styles. Forget the lyrics, how cool is the rhythm.
Growing up in a VERY conservative church, all that we sang was hymns. There was nothing called contemporary worship. You had your song book. That's it.
During my teen years there wasn't a lot of cool Christian bands, in fact I think there was just a handful. None of which interested me in the least.
Christian teens today can enjoy a wide range of bands and styles that have a Christian message, shoot I've found that I even enjoy some of them.
Growing up I tried my hand at writing music, playing the guitar, and of course playing the drums. I played the drums for my friend Brian who played the guitar and sang. Lets just say our band never got off the ground, although I really enjoyed playing the drums for Brian.
That brings us to today.
Being the leader of a Jr-Sr high youth group I have rediscovered how important music is to the younger generation. What they like and don't like. I can tell you this, and don't get upset about this, but they have a really hard time with traditional worship music.
Why?
I think first it is a generational issue. Look I'm sure somebody's Grandma started breaking somebody's Elvis albums. Young people think older people are out of touch. This is not new, as a kid I thought older people were out of touch. Young people think they have most of the answers, although they find out when they get older that older people were sharper than they thought.
The second, and I think more important, issue is that young people are not blind. They see adults sing hymns with about as much passion as a sit in a doctors office waiting room. They watch people worship God in a hollow, perhaps zombie type way. Young people, for the most part, are about life. They are looking for a real, genuine worship experience. That means the music has to be a little more upbeat.
At my church we try to mix hymns with more contemporary music. I know Barna says not to, but I think it is a good thing. It makes the church grow by stretching some of the older folks and letting the younger ones feel more comfortable in worship. We try to make worship better for everyone, which has worked for us, your results may vary.
I have a confession however. Every once and awhile the church turns the Sunday evening service over to my youth group. They have the freedom to do whatever they want in the service. Their music 100%.
Guess what.
I find myself tapping my foot and really enjoying the worship music they pick. Is there any hope for me?
I wonder if they will let me play the drums for them?
Hmmmmm.

Holiday Tree?

2005-12-15T11:39:00.000-06:00

"Let me ask you a question".
Frank usually didn't start our conversations like that, I was kind of worried about what the question was going to be.
"Sure", I said.
"At your house do you have a Christmas tree or a holiday tree?"
Frank obviously doesn't know I'm a Christian. "I have a Christmas tree", I replied in the nice but firm voice I'm famous for.
"See, that's what I say, but my wife wants to call it a holiday tree."
"Wow", was about all I could get out.
I have heard about this "holiday tree" garbage, the stores saying "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas". But I never thought I would actually talk to anyone who even knew anybody who bought into this stuff.
Maybe that's a problem.
I have to admit that I can really get steamed at the minority in this country, who, through shear intimidation, can ruin one of the greatest holidays there is.
I'm not usually one to scream the sky is falling every time some nut in this country tries to change how we handle God. I actually respect the rights of people who don't want anything to do with God. Why? Because God gives people the opportunity to live their life without Him. It is a simple choice and God loves you enough to let you decide. Heck, live your whole life that way and guess what, God will let you spend eternity without him, but that really won't be a pleasant experience.
But mess with Christmas?
I guess what gets me steamed is that the same minority that wants God out of their lives wants me to put God out of mine. If you don't want to celebrate Christmas the way I do, fine. Call your tree whatever you want, erase Christmas from your calendar all together if you like. That's what living in a free country is all about, you can decide how you want to live your life.
But don't mess with mine.
Why are people so afraid of Christ? Why are we so scared of the Ten Commandments? We don't keep them anyway. Why do some homosexuals try to push acceptance of their lifestyle choice on others? You can do whatever you want, just don't think that just because it's you that God is going to be okay with it.
Maybe the problem is right there.
To many people, to many churches try to create God in their image. We want a God to be okay with us, instead of us being okay with God. It is a lot easier that way.
Jesus said something that really caught my eye, Luke 6 verse 46, He said "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?". This cuts both ways, it warns Christians to be following the teachings of Jesus, and if we are going to be followers of Christ, we must obey ALL of His teachings. Not just the ones we like. What is the use of saying that Jesus is the lord of our life when we simply live life the way we want to?
In reading this some may say that I am uncaring, a homophobe, self righteous or, gasp, even conservative. But I submit I'm none of the above.
I am simply a Christian man, that fails his Lord every day. The difference is that I am trying to conform my life to what God expects, not making God see things my way.
Jesus said that if we love Him, we must obey him. Everybody runs around saying they love Jesus, but do they love Him enough to deny themselves and their desires to follow Him? It is a question we all must be brave enough to ask.
In the last times we are told not to be surprised at the events we witness, yet I can't help but be surprised at the direction we have taken as a country. At one time being a Christian was a positive thing, now it is something to be feared. Is hate that far off?
I want everyone to accept Christ as their savior, I don't want anyone to suffer hell. The Bible tells us that the road to hell is wide. The majority of people will choose to live without God.
And God loves them enough to let them.

Where have all the good times gone?

2005-11-30T08:36:00.000-06:00

That's an old Van Halen song, that has a message.
Many people think that the church was so much better than it is today. I'm always hearing about the good ol' days. If you think that way, read this;
In other words, he wished to see Christians doing the things that Christ did, and using, in matters of the church, the same business sense which they brought to bear upon their own affairs. He thought of the poverty, squalor and wretchedness of some for whom Christ died, and of the costly luxuries of the church into whose hands the Master had given the care of these. He thought of the doors to places of sin, swinging wide before the young, while the doors of the church were often closed against them. He thought of the secret societies and orders, doing the work that the church was meant to do,and of the honest, moral men, who refused to identify themselves with the church, though professing belief in Jesus Christ; and, thinking of these things and more like them, he was forced to say that the church must change her methods; that she must talk less and do more;that she must rest her claims to the love of mankind where Christ rested his; upon the works that He did. He saw that the church was proving false to the Christ; that her service was a service of the lips only; that her worship was form and ceremony--not of the heart--a hollow mockery. He saw that she was not touching the great problems of life; and that, while men were dying for want of spiritual bread, she was offering them only the stones of ecclesiastical pride and denominational egotism. He saw all this, and yet,--because he was a strong man--remained full of love for Christ and taught that those things were not Christianity but the lack of it;and placed the blame where it justly belonged, upon the teaching and doctrines of men, and not upon the principles of Christ; but upon the shepherds, who fattened themselves, while the starving sheep grew thin and lean; and not upon Him who came to seek and save that which was lost.
Sound like today's church?
Well it isn't.
This was written by a man that lived from 1872 to 1944, Harold Bell Wright, and this is an excerpt from his book,"That Printer of Udell's".
What does this tell us?
That no matter what generation you want to talk about, the church has always dealt with the same problems that we deal with today.
The prescription to fix the problem is the same today as it was then. It cannot become content.
We cannot be content as a church while people are in need. We cannot be content as a church to the point we really don't want anyone else to join our club. We cannot be content as a church when people are dying and going to an eternal hell. When we do become content about these things, God simply stops using us.
Think about the church in Revelation, the one in Ephesus, that lost its first love. In other words they became content. Jesus tells them to remember the height from which they had fallen. To repent and do the things they had done before. You can argue that this letter was for the church in Ephesus or it was symbolic for every church, but the meaning is clear either way, the church can become very content with itself and God does not dig that.
In the end the question is simple for us as leaders, either we lead by example and encourage strongly our congregation to mature enough to see what church is really all about, or...
we become hospice providers for a dying church.

What I'm thankful for...

2005-11-23T12:24:00.000-06:00

Man this could get long.
First I'm thankful for God and my savior Jesus Christ. Why God would ever use someone like me goes way beyond my understanding. I fail my Lord so many times He has to be up there slapping his head.
I'm thankful for my wife of 17 years. She has had to put up with me and my wild ideas for a long time. While we have had our disagreements, I always knew she still loved me (even when she threw my stuff) and for some reason she still loves me. I didn't think I would ever get the pretty girl, but I sure did!
I am thankful for my dad, who has been with the Lord for a few years now. He was my idol and later in my life, my friend. I miss talking to him and gleaning his wisdom. He was the first one to take me to church and his fear of God was ever present. His humor was unique and there was usually laughter in our home. God really blessed me with such a great father. He wasn't perfect, and I had to watch as lung cancer slowly killed him. He had made some bad choices in his life, but in the end he made the best choice, accepting God's grace.
I am thankful for my mother, who always has been tough when she needed to be and also had a sense of humor. Many nights she was by herself when Dad worked out of town. When Dad got hurt and couldn't work, she picked up the slack. She put up with Dad and stayed with him during a tough time in their relationship. She always wanted a big family and a big house, something you don't hear women say much anymore. She became a Christian while I was a child and always made sure I was in church. My morals and attitudes come from her. She is a special lady.
I am thankful for my brothers and sisters, two of each. It was fun growing up with them and watching them grow. We are a very close group, something else you don't see a lot of. Now this group has turned out brother and sister in laws, nephews and nieces. All of which bring me joy and lots of laughs. I am blessed with a great family.
I am thankful for some great friends, all of whom I know I can count on no matter what. They have been very special to me and they can make me laugh until my head hurts.
I am thankful for my in-laws. I'm sure at times they have shook their heads at some of my stunts, but they always let us feel our way through things. They are wonderful grandparents and I try to seek their wisdom when I can.
I am thankful for my sons. I remember becoming a father for the first time and thinking about the awesome responsibility that God had given me. My boys are growing faster than I would like and I know my time with them is limited. They have been a joy to me and I can't help feeling very proud of them. I am told by many people how well behaved and smart they are, I have to say more like their mother than their dad.
I am thankful for everything that God has blessed me with, far more than I deserve. A good job, a nice home, and my new addition, a shop! It doesn't get any better than that!
I am thankful for my church, my brothers and sisters in Christ, and my pastors and leadership team. When I married my wife I gained a church home. God knows what He's doing.
Finally I'm thankful for life. There is a lot of things in this world I don't like. I hate the direction we are headed as a country when I see God being removed from every part of our culture. We have become too smart and too wealthy as a people to remember our humble beginnings and who we owe for our prosperity. No matter how bad it gets however, I am thankful I am right here, right now. I am able to walk and get around and besides being a tad overweight I'm in pretty good shape for a guy knocking on the old 40 door.
I am a blessed man.

Money

2005-11-22T10:43:00.000-06:00

Cue the Pink Floyd.
I never cared for the song or the group, but I must admit, it has a message.
Stay on a church board long enough, and you will have to deal with the wonderful and at times terrible subject of money.
First we have to understand that the church HAS to spend money. I know that sounds kind of simple, but you would be surprised at the people that don't get that.
There is where the problem lies.
God is so cool that He made us all different. We all look at things from a different point of view. It's no wonder many marriages fall apart, usually there is a saver and a spender, and unless we are willing to work together and compromise, we are in for some huge battles.
Those attitudes come with us when we enter the council meeting room. There are savers and spenders. The fuel is present for some nasty explosions and unfortunately, like some marriages, churches split.
How do we avoid this?
First we must realize that the church is NOT a business and it is NOT like our home finances. The goals need to be different.
In our homes we try to save some for retirement, or maybe a home or a car. In a business you save to upgrade, and perhaps keep a little in case business gets slow.
What does the church save for? What is its goals?
I never really thought about it until I was reading Erwin McManus' book "An Unstoppable Force". It hit me. We are worried about our survival.
When we become more interested in our church surviving than we are about its mission, we have reached a dangerous point in our church history.
It turns itself inward, hoarding its resources, afraid to step out and spend a little to do the work. Maybe what we really ought to call it is unfaithfulness.
I really tried to think of a Biblical story of God rewarding people who lacked faith in His ability to provide. The only one I can think of is when the Hebrew people were wondering in the desert (because they lacked faith, hmmm) and God provided them with manna.
I wonder how many churches are wandering in the "desert" because they didn't think God was big enough to handle a mission project, or whatever else we NEED to be doing in our churches.
The Bible says we cannot serve two masters. We cannot say we are doing everything we can to reach people when we are unwilling to spend our money for ministry. We cannot serve the god of money and the one true God.
Now I'm not saying the church shouldn't have a little put away for a roof or something like that, our buildings need upkeep, and of course the church should always pay its bills, but don't always think that being a good steward means hoarding your money while people in your community are going hungry and needing clothes.
The church in Acts, according to the Bible, sold what they had and gave it away. You will notice they did not put it away for a rainy day, into a CD or a building fund. The "church" was not worried about their survival, just doing the work of their Lord.
No wonder it grew.

My youth group, leader lesson mini-sized

2005-11-16T11:57:00.000-06:00

Somebody was going to get wet.
In my quest to find an activity for my Jr.-Sr. High youth group I came across this little game which would be fun for the youth and, more importantly, entertaining for the leader. I split the group into two groups, boys vs girls. Each group had to lay on their backs in a circle with their feet in the air, their heals touching the person on each side of them. With their feet forming a platform, I placed a small bucket of water on the bottom of their feet and instructed them, one at a time, to take one shoe off and then the other shoe. The object was for the rest of the group to keep the water from spilling while each person removed a shoe.
Got it?
Well it was a lot of fun, I laughed so hard my head hurt and of course people got wet. But something that happened during the game got me thinking.
One group (I won't tell you which one) seemed very afraid of getting wet. As shoes were being removed the bucket began to slosh water, panic ensued, and the group members bailed out leaving everyone to fend for themselves. The bucket spilled it's entire contents and people got wet.
The other group had a much better experience. The water was placed on their feet and it did slosh a little water out as shoes were being removed. But the pail didn't spill.
Why?
The second group had a leader, someone who had taken charge, coached and encouraged the group not to give up and to work together.
I found true leadership in a simple game. Even at the risk of getting wet, the leader didn't yell, panic, or blame the team. The leader knew the objective, got the team to the goal and didn't brag or swagger. It was a team effort.
Many leaders try to push their agenda down the throats of the people their suppose to be leading. Maybe sometimes it works, but I submit it rarely does. What happens most of the time is they leave a trail of destruction in their wake. They become frustrated, the people become frustrated, and bad things happen.
The lesson I learned in that silly game is that, as leaders, we need to sell the vision to the people we lead. We need to encourage and coach, not get mad when things don't move at the speed we would like. People are watching us all the time. We cannot panic or blame others when things go bad and we shouldn't brag and take all the credit when we have positive moments. We can do so much more when we work together than we can do when we try to do it alone.
If we don't work together, we are going to get wet.

Dear _ _ _,

2005-11-15T10:44:00.000-06:00

I know that look.
Those tired eyes give it away.
I was invited to your council meeting to see if I could help you and your church, but I remained silent. You may be wondering why.
You see before I came to your meeting I prayed that God would hold my tongue, and He did.
I came to listen to the noise. You have been through so much with the dismissal of your pastor, the reduction of your attendance and then of course your income. The search for a new pastor is always one of the toughest choices a church body has to make. It seems that lines have formed, those who support the young youth director who is full of life and wants to take the church in a direction your just not sure about, and another man who comes from a different denomination but offers a slightly more traditional background.
As with most meetings you have the onlookers who want to offer their advice, the two young men who spoke in favor of the youth director taking the senior pastor role were very convincing, although what I thought I heard them say was that if the youth director was not given the position (or someone like him, I thought that was a nice touch) they would have to look at another church.
Interesting.
I will tell you a story from my youth. There was a corner lot we used to play football. We, being young men, of course played tackle football, and it got rough at times. One of my friends had a new Nerf football. Now today that seems like no big deal, but for the poor area I grew up in a Nerf football was something new. Now my friend had this habit of getting upset when he played and before long his anger would grow until he grabbed the football, went home to his front porch and rocked in his rocking chair for all of us to see, the Nerf football safely placed on his porch.
My point is this, what it sounds like to me is if you don't hire the guy I want (or someone like him) I'm taking my bright orange football home and you will have to live with the fact I'm at some other church blessing them with my attendance.
I heard some voices of reason, I heard some voices of fear, I heard pain. I wanted just to listen and watch as that meeting ground along.
But what really caught my eye was your face. That tired expression and those eyes. Those very tired eyes.
After the meeting I made it a point to speak to you. I wanted to encourage you and I wish to do that again now.
Keep your head up. Keep smiling. There will be happiness again. Do NOT hire anyone without some serious prayer time and more meetings with your leaders. Meet away from the church and away from any candidates. Speak open and honestly with each other about the direction you feel God moving the church. Then and only then can you select the right candidate.
Don't let anyone who threatens to leave bother you. You are NEVER going to make everybody happy so don't even try. If they leave, they leave. Send them away with love and move on. They will be happier and you will be happier for it.
_ _ _, I have sat in your chair and I know how you feel. You just want it to end. Hire somebody, anybody, just take this load off of me. Don't give in to that feeling. Be patient, have faith, and watch God work.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Tom

CHANGE

2005-11-11T10:25:00.000-06:00

I liked my old computer.
I have had it since I was moved upstairs at work. It had all my bookmarks, old e-mails that were special, I knew my way around it. It was a little slow, and had been crashing some lately but I was comfortable with it. I was running Windows 98, which I know is old school, but it was pretty simple to run.
My boss was having all the computers at work updated to XP. They were not going to give me a new computer, just slap in some more memory and put XP on. I was okay with it I guess, there was not a lot I could do about it.
Then it happened.
The guy who was doing the upgrades suggested giving me a brand new computer, a short time later my old computer was gone. How sad it was that something I had spent so much time with, got comfortable with, had used a lot, was gone.
You think I'm making to big a deal about my old computer?
Careful.
I have found that changing things in churches become MUCH bigger deals. Change a service time, or order of service. Change worship music or leader, go to two services, cancel a service or add a service, and you might find yourself in the worst fight of your life.
Why?
I think that a lot of it is the generation we deal with. They have seen so much change in their lives (and I'm afraid not a lot of good changes) that the last thing they want changed is the church they attend. That is one aspect of their life they can control, and heaven help whoever messes with it.
Comfort has a lot to do with it also. We get used to things the way they are, and we know at 9:30 service will start, we will do this and that, we will sing some songs, the preacher will talk and then we will go home to eat.
Now repeat that for about three thousand times. No wonder our worship life gets a little stale.
Now before I go any farther I want to state something very plainly. I DO NOT believe in changing something just for the sake of change. That's just asking for trouble. But we do need to look at every aspect of our time together and ask, can we do it better?
Maybe we should ask a better question. What has become sacred in our churches? Our traditions and service schedule or the savior we came to worship?
My new computer is really fast and I kind of like it.
Who would of thought?

The Tom Brady syndrome

2005-11-08T10:18:00.000-06:00

What an interview.
Here is a guy who has everything. I mean look at what he has, 3 Super Bowl rings, dating some model, tons of money.
And he his empty.
I give Tom a lot of credit to admit something that the vast majority just doesn't get. It will never be enough.
The world tells us that we must be wealthy (tons of money), successful career (3 Super Bowl rings), and a hottie by our side (the model). By the worlds definition Tom Brady should be the happiest guy on the planet.
But he isn't.
In this rich country of ours it is very easy to obtain many things that we just know will make us happy, make us complete.
We pile the stuff up until we have to go rent a storage building to hold the rest of it. We want our bodies to be ripped and perfect, we want money so badly that we are willing to send our wives into the workplace, our children to the sitters, just to obtain more. We should be happy.
But we are not.
In fact I would say that in today's world we are as empty as we have ever been. Drug use is on the rise, we marry and divorce, have affairs and file bankruptcy. Always searching for that key
ingredient that we think will make everything better.
The answer of course is Jesus, but the world isn't buying that. I wonder if it's because the world sees Christians falling into the same traps.
We tell the world that "all you need is Jesus" and then run to the store to buy lottery tickets. What does that convey? I have faith that Jesus will supply all of my needs, but just in case He doesn't I'll play powerball. How about "all you need is Jesus", but my wife doesn't understand me so I found a "friend" on the side that does. "All you need is Jesus", but the bass boat I can't afford would look great on the lake. "All you need is Jesus", but I'm addicted to drugs, alcohol, or porn because I need it to get by. I wonder sometimes, do we really need Jesus, or just more money, sex or power.
It's a good question for all of us. I'm not saying nice things are bad, but what are we willing to give up to have them. What is our priority?
Jesus talked with a nice rich young man one time. The gentleman wanted eternal life and had obeyed the "rules" in his life. Jesus pointed out that there was something between this rich man and true happiness. The "things" in life got in the way. He left empty, coming so close to true wealth, but yet so far away.
I wonder if Tom will leave this earth the same way.

Loner

2005-11-04T10:28:00.000-06:00

I've always been a loner.
I'm not sure how it happened, maybe the fact that my parents were not in the social circles and that they over protected me as a child.
I just didn't need anyone else.
I was the only one I knew I could trust for a long time, I would walk to and from school, my mind always engaged with thought or day dreaming. The friends I did have were close. I didn't make close friends easily, it was something that took a lot of time. They had to earn my trust before I would let them into my world.
I was a stick in the mud so to speak, I loved being home, doing my thing. I could care less about the school dances or the events. I was shy around people, usually because I figured I would say something stupid, so I just avoided most people. Even to this day, more people know who I am in my small town, than I know who they are.
I was tall growing up, but pretty skinny. Because of that people just thought I should play basketball. I tried it and found out I really enjoyed the game. That was probably the best thing for me as it drug me out of my shell a little and it kept me busy.
What has that got to do with the church?
Well in some ways we all are loners. We don't let people into our lives very much. We don't let our Christian brothers and sisters in very close either. We guard our lives and our time like a pit bull standing over a T-bone. We have so much stuff and activities to do we just don't have time to develop relationships. We each have our own world and were comfortable with that. Church becomes an extension of our world but really nothing more.
I say this for two reasons. First, we miss out on genuine fellowship, not just eating together, but really getting to know people. This is hard for me still. But when I have done it, I have found it to be a blessing. I have grown as a person and a Christian when I let my guard down and let people in.
The second reason is the toughest. We need to develop relationships with people who are lost. I'm not talking about smacking them over the head with a coffee table KJV. I mean a genuine concern for people. They have to see our beliefs in action before they will ever consider joining you on your journey. Most people have heard it all before. Their not looking for someone to preach to them. Their looking for a friend.
We need to be tearing down fences instead of building them.

Focus

2005-11-03T14:06:00.000-06:00

It was starting to get ugly.
It was probably my second council meeting as chairman. I had been elected as vice chairman 6 months earlier, and as luck would have it the chairman had moved to a different state. That left me in the captain's chair.
The last place I wanted to be.
It all started when someone mentioned getting one of those small church buses instead of a van. That lead to the question of, if we did get the mini-bus, where would we house it.
We had 2 or 3 people on the board that were still a little bitter about a previous event, and it seemed that everything was just bugging them.
Voices began to raise and I saw faces getting red.
It was time to act.
"Anybody else got anything to say" I blurted out. That seemed to get their attention. "Let's go upstairs".
I was going upstairs to focus. You see that is were the sanctuary is. That is where the altar is.
I explained that we were going to get on our knees and pray. I left it open so anyone could pray either to themselves or out loud.
Why?
The most important reason is focus. Blame the church for not doing this or that, blame it's unwillingness to change, blame it for losing it's mission. But I can tell you the real reason we fail.
We aren't focused.
Think about it, King David was God's man. From a small boy he had faith in his God. God blessed David for that faith. Everything was great. Until...
Instead of being with his troops one day David took some time off. Why not, he had earned it. He had good people under him, the victory would still be won.
He went on top of his estate and happen to look in the wrong direction. You know the rest of the story. That one moment of forgetting what his focus should of been brought David misery the rest of his life.
That was just a moment, a glance if you will, of losing focus for David. Some churches lose their focus for years. And they too spend years in misery.
I want the leaders at my church to stay focused. Forget about all the petty arguments and conflicts, past histories and grudges.
When Paul would write the churches he urged them to focus on Christ and each other. The church in Acts grew in leaps and bounds when they "had everything in common" and "all the believers were one in heart and mind." See my point.
It's easy to get out of focus, all it takes is putting something in front of following Jesus.
Our council now goes before the altar before each meeting. It is a time to confess sin, pray for the sick and for the upcoming meeting.
But really we do it to focus.

Council Meetings

2005-11-02T15:42:00.000-06:00

I hate the dentist.
It's nothing personal, it's just every time I get into the old dentist chair, pain is sure to follow.
It's oddly enough the same feeling I get at council meetings sometimes.
It's not the people on the board, they are all good people.
It's the content.
At some moment in church history, I'm not sure when it happened, the church became a business.
I know I know, you HAVE to take care of the business, pay the bills, hear the reports. Or do we? In my church we have pastors, elders, deacons, trustees, clerk, treasurer, and an advisory member from our women's group on our board. They are all elected by the congregation to do a job. So what's the problem?
Well I know I'm going to take some heat for this but I don't need to hear a report from any of them.
What?!?
Let me explain, the elders are responsible for the worship and spiritual health (along with the pastors) of the church. Do your job.
The deacons take care of the needs of the church in a financial sense, budgets etc. and help with the ordinances. Do your job.
The trustees take care of the building and grounds. Do your job.
The pastor shepherds the flock. Do your job.
I don't need to know what toilet got fixed, the budgetary numbers for the worship team, what the pastor did every waking moment of his week. I'm sorry I don't.
If we are truly a team, I trust the deacons to do what is best for the church. I don't need to know all the details. If we don't trust them, why have we elected them?
This may sound extreme, but I remember looking at carpet samples for what seemed like an eternity. I'm color blind. I don't care. Get some people together who do care and do it! Want more? In our last building project, we couldn't decide what kind of cover plate to put over the light switches. I wish I was kidding.
Look, like I said, I love my church and the brothers and sisters I serve with. This is in no way a slam on them. It's just the culture they have been brought up in. They compare the church board with a county or business board. We think were doing the right thing by talking about profit & losses, and what color to paint the men's bathroom. I'm not so sure.
I dream of a day when the leaders of our churches get together and talk about vision, and brainstorm about ways we can make the church more like the way Christ would want it, not about wallpaper and paint, profit and losses.
But for now...

The Mega Church

2005-11-01T10:34:00.000-06:00

Brian an I were excited.
Our friend Wade was getting married at Willow Creek church in Barrington. At that time one of the largest churches in North America. We were in the wedding party.
Just the wedding chapel could hold the population of my small town and I was in awe.
The pastor doing the service asked us if we would like to see the main sanctuary. I couldn't wait to see it. It was just huge. I remember seeing phones on the first row chairs, I assumed were for communicating back to the A-V area.
Brian was not impressed.
"I thought it would be bigger".
Several years later Brian and I went to a seminar held at Willow Creek with other leaders from our denomination. I had heard they built a new sanctuary and again I was eager to see it. It did not disappoint. It was twice as grand as the first one. When we walked into the church it reminded me of an airport. Tons of people, multi-storied, food courts. Just amazing, simply amazing. They even had a kiosk. Whoever heard of a kiosk in a church?
Now I know your waiting for me to bash the "mega church", and I do have a couple of issues with it. But not what you might expect.
I think some people dislike them because of simple jealousy, it's so beautiful it is hard not to be envious, but is that a good reason to put them down?
And just think what good they can do with that many resources, the impact they can have in the community and in the world. That's a lot of good things.
What put a little damper on my warm feelings was looking at all the pastors at the seminar with their Willow Creek packets, eager to soak up everything and anything of value so they can be a mega church too. I mean if it worked for Bill why won't it work for me?
I could imagine them going back to their home church, busting with excitement. He springs it on his church, they buy it and then WHAM. He falls on his face.
Now this pastor is crushed. What went wrong? He begins to doubt his abilities. Maybe he's not the man the church needs. Do you see where I'm going with this?
What Willow Creek and other mega's do is great, but that does not mean that pastors in smaller churches across the country and around the world are not doing great things. Don't judge your ministry on size. Base it on the spiritual growth of your flock. Are they becoming spiritual "adults" or are they stuck in spiritual infancy.
The only other trouble I have is the bigger the machine, the more fuel it requires. Where does the fuel come from? I would be interested to know the percentage of new converts at Willow Creek against the percentage of people who left smaller churches in the area to join Willow Creek. Is it true numerical growth, or just shifting people from smaller churches to larger churches than can offer more of everything. I'm just curious.
Make no mistake, I have a lot of respect for the mega's. They have done some great things in Christ's name. I wish them continued success and prosperity.
But I also wish the average pastor of his small church the same thing.

Consumerism in church

2005-11-01T08:45:00.000-06:00

We are all consumers.
We buy products to live, we buy products to entertain us, we buy, buy, buy.
And we have become disloyal. Remember the good ole' days when you were either a Ford, GM, or Chrysler man? No so anymore.
Now we want whatever gives us the bigger bang for the buck. My desires and wants have become paramount. It's all about me.
I suppose that's fine when shopping for material thing as long as it's within your financial grasp.
But how about looking for a church?
You see I'm afraid the church as bought into this. We want to make ourselves attractive, not so much for the lost I fear, but for the Christian family looking for a new home since the last church they were in didn't meet there "needs".
It's not new, I'm sure some of the people that followed Jesus and the apostles were just wanting to be entertained, you know, see the "show". Was that shallow? Be careful how you answer that. You might find that you are leaving or looking for a church based on that same shallowness.
Churches are trying to deliver more product, a bigger bang for the buck, to the church consumer. We all claim that were not trying to steal people from other churches, but were certainly happy when the do show up. Here's someone all cleaned up and ready to be put to work. We don't have to worry about how they look or act, there just like us! Hooray!!
I'm not saying the church shouldn't change what it's doing, I think we should from time to time look at our ministries and evaluate there effectiveness. But who are we trying to reach?
Our church has lost and gained people. I have heard the excuses. Church "A" has more stuff for my kids, church "B" just lost there pastor and since I don't like the new guy I'm going to try your church. I like church "C" because of there music leader. It sounds an awful lot like there saying church is all about me.
In the good ole' days of horse and buggy, several people came together and built a little church in the area. Over a large area alot of these little churches sprang up. People just didn't want to travel in a wagon very far. Not so today.
We will travel long distances to get what we want. And by george were going to get it.
Maybe the question we need to ask in our board (that's board not bored, it's an easy mistake to make) meetings is how do we make the church attractive to the people that we are supposed to reach out to, you remember, the lost.
I'm not telling the church to neglect the saints, but I think we can do both. Just imagine if we showed genuine concern and love for the lost that they wanted to be a part of the body, and I'm going out on a limb here, but I'll bet that their looking for that instead of who has the better power point presentation.
But it will require the saints to do something that for some reason we have a hard time doing. Accepting people just the way they are, you know, like Christ does. We get the cart before the horse. We want them holy, BEFORE we let them into our club. I'm glad Jesus doesn't work that way or we would all be in trouble.
I had a older fellow tell me that he really missed the old days when people would come to the alter and give their life to Christ. I think down deep all the saints miss that. So as far as I'm concerned it's a win-win.
Before that can happen however church has to become less of a product and more of a lighthouse.

My friend Brian

2005-10-31T11:53:00.000-06:00

Brian has given me a lot of good press.
Who's Brian you ask?
Well you can get a pretty good idea by visiting his blog- bedrock3.blogspot.com. In that widely read blog you will find that he is a pastor with a heart to reach people in a non-traditional church setting and atmosphere.
He has also been my friend since second grade.
In school I always envied his intelligence. Brian made math look easy. He always comprehended stuff that made my head hurt. He had read books that were DEEP. You know, no pictures. We played basketball together in school, probably the only thing we had in common and it cemented our friendship. I was asked about doing Campus Life in Martinsville, which I accepted. If I recall correctly I asked Brian to help me, he accepted. Our first ministry.
My marriage was a product of him as his then girlfriend setting me up with a blind date. Four years later I was married.
After college Brian got a great job with IBM. I starting working for an industrial supply house.
I would talk with Brian once and awhile, and then...
I heard he was going to seminary.
Brian had grown up in a very traditional church, as did I. The only time he spoke about his church was to comment how the youth would sit in the balcony and goof off during the service while the adults struggled to pay attention. I think Brian saw the church as someplace that people went because they were just expected to. I think Brian wanted the church to be more than that, he wanted it to be alive, relevant to the community, a place were love and hope could be found.
He tried to pastor a traditional church, no dice. It seemed they were unwilling to change to broaden there reach. So he did the best thing I think he could have done.
He planted a church.
Talk about faith! Talk about fearless! Now he will tell you that he has had his moments when he wasn't so sure about it, but I'm also sure he would tell you the journey has never been dull.
He became the head of church planting for the midwest region in our denomination, were he works to help others plant churches.
Brian isn't perfect, like all of us he has his faults, but I still find myself envying him, not so much for his head knowledge (which is still WAY over my head) but for his heart and passion to reach people that have given up on the church.

Individualism and today's church

2005-10-31T10:13:00.000-06:00

In my Sunday School class we talked about something that I had not really thought about. We have a new classification (well new to me). There are atheist (No God), agnostic (God, but unreachable) and now individualist ( Me and God are tight, just in my own way). I remember a conversation I had with an alcoholic that told me that he and Jesus had a relationship, but it was a relationship that apparently was unique and different than everybody else. I'm hearing more people tell me that. I've thought to myself, why wouldn't they want to have what I guess I consider a "normal" relationship that is open, and not so undercover.
Why don't they attend church? My first thought is that they have seen so many bad examples of Christianity in church that they feel there better off outside the church. I won't argue that, sometimes we are bad billboards for Christ. I urge people to NOT look so much at people but focus on Christ, but that just isn't going to happen.
I also think that people have become more independent. We live in a world that we can communicate thoughts and ideas, good and bad, to anyone that wants to listen. We are bombarded with so much information about religion, we don't need a pastor. Why risk relationships with other believers who can hurt us? When your on your own you can get as close or as far away as you want.
There is one more thing that being an individualist offers, no accountability. If I keep my relationship a secret I can do what I want, whenever I want and no one is going to jump down my throat. If someone does point out the sin in my life, I can always say that I simply don't believe that way. You can kind of float about on the currents of the latest ideas, without really standing for anything.
How do we, as the Church, reach people that see no use for us? First and foremost we have to LOVE them. This sounds the easiest, but if were honest, it's the toughest. Most churches are not interested in people that are not interested in the church. Hey if they want to be on there own, let them, we got more important things to do like balance our budget, plan the next social gathering, stuff like that. Help people? Sorry we just don't have the time.
Second we have to get over our fear. This is the toughest for me. Any relationship incurs a risk no matter what you want to talk about. I am so socially backwards that just spitting out my name can be a problem with somebody I don't know. I envy people that can be bold and just stick out your hand to anyone that walks by. Jesus teaches that we need not fear anyone, so my faith is weak in that area. I'm betting I'm not the only one.
Lastly, keep it simple. I don't think people need to know all of your theological knowledge. If we can't explain Christ's love for us in a plain simple way, (you know like Christ did), what's the use?
People can listen to the intellectuals on TV (I'll bet they spend a second before they switch the channel). I think the world is hungry for the plain, simple truth.
The bottom line is this...teach the simple truth and live that truth.

Welcome to my Blog

2005-10-28T10:43:00.000-05:00

Wow my first post. Brian would be very proud of me. I want to introduce to you who I am. My name is Tom, I have a lovely (and patient) wife Marsha, and two great sons, Matt and Aaron. My reason for starting this Blog is two-fold. The first reason is two have an outlet for my thoughts on church leadership from the perspective of an elder from a small town traditional church as it grapples with change from within and outside the church. Secondly I wanted to share my personal struggle as a Christian man to live the life that God has called us to live. My hope is that it will encourage others.
Why Flower Hill? Well I grew up on a hill in a small town. In my town when you say your from Flower Hill it usually indicates that your poor, rough living, simple. I have found it to be a special place to live, where people are for the most part poor, rough living and simple. But there is a sense of community. Anyone just passing through just wouldn't see the things I see.
Why? Because they don't see it the way that I do. I am simple, I don't like complicated, long winded babble. Just get me the bottom line.
So how does this connect with church leadership? I read and hear so much about what the church should or should not be doing. Much has been written on "doing church". Doing it better, doing it smarter, the latest craze, small groups, large groups, small churches, mega churches. It just goes on and on. Where I believe we have to get to is putting down all the other books, and pick up the best church growth book out there, your Bible. You see until we stop "doing" church and start "being" the church we will always come up short. But how do we move our traditional churches from where they are to were they need to be? There lies the problem.
More on that later. If you do come across this blog I hope you enjoy it.
But understand...I'm from Flower Hill.