Ed Whipple

That Magic Age

2011-11-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

The mother and daughter stood in line waiting their turn. Their fashion modeled each other. If in other settings you'd confuse them for sisters. The mother was anxious. The daughter waited. The mother would often peer around the people in front of them looking at the glass case and donut options. The daughter just waited. When their turn finally came, the mother started pointing out which donuts she wanted in rapid fire, asking her daughter what she wanted. I don't know what was said or done but the employee behind the counter had a look on his face and the daughter said "be nice." Finally, the mother turned to the daughter and asked her if she wanted one more donut. She nodded or said "yes." The employee grabbed the first one on the rack. The mother wanted a specific one. The daughter said, "I'll just take that one." I don't know what else was said but how this drama played out I could tell the daughter has to control her mothers temperament often.

The first week of no shave November I participated in multiple sporting venues from - volleyball, football, soccer and basketball. At some of these venues I couldn't tell if a person was 25 or 16. Considering some of these events where at the local High School I just assumed they were under 18. At a varsity playoff football game some students stood on the sideline with a full to almost full grown beards waiting to be put into the game. Yet, I sat in the stand listening to parents call these fully grown, fully bearded individuals standing on the sidelines "kids."

One on going American complexity is for our young looking older and some of our older population to look younger. It's backed by a media that promotes certain fashions, family models, images and ideas backed by a medical and pharmaceutical companies that tell us we can make you "look" and "act" differently. With the lines constantly blurring I often wonder what is that illusionary "age" or "image" we are pursuing? Whatever that number is I can't define but I can tell you it looks like this, "someone who is sophisticated, smart, parties it up, has it together, never works, but has access to a lot of money, decorated, talented at nothing or specially one thing and has fluid connections to parents who look and act similar if not dumber then them."

In the movie "In Time" the optimal age is 25. Time is the comedy that is sold, traded, bartered and God-forbid "freely given." What one or two individuals were able to accomplish in a 24 hour period was truly astonishing. The movie is well written and in my opinion a slap on our current economic condition. But it did point out one face. When you are out of time. You die. Since you can watch up to the last second you live and die. You don't waste a lot of time sleeping or thinking about the long term. You just think about the now and how you might get more time so you don't die.

The movie speaks volumes to my point. Many American's and Christians have an unhealthy approach to death and aging. I will admit my premillennial eschatological views. But as my mom would often say, "we all get old and die." Thanks mom! She had a great way to encourage my dating life, "don't just look for the pretty girls, we all get old and die." Lots of hope found in those words but a realistic. The fountain of youth has always been a mythical apple that the medical and pharmaceutical companies worship. But it's just a myth. We all get old and die.

Christians need a new model (really its not new it just needs to be reclaimed from our rich Christian History). "Jesus said, `If anyone desires to come after Me, let that person deny themselves, and take up their cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24 "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I [Paul] who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in flesh I live by faith in the Sone of God who love me and gave Himself for me" Galatians 2:20. "I [Paul] appeal to you brothers and sisters, by the mercies o God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" Romans 12:1-2.

The girl at the donut counter is an 8th Grader who participates in F.C.A. (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at a local Middle School I speak at occasionally. Some of the "kids" standing on the sidelines aren't kids at all but fully cable men able to do incredibly great things like go to Africa and help children dying of malaria. More importantly these "kids" came up with a fundraiser themselves and raised enough money themselves to fund the cost of the trip. Good job "kids." Please note extreme sarcasm.

As Christians we are surrendered servants of God. I truly believe God does not distinguish age but willingness. My interim at Stonebridge UMC I have known 3 "kids" to be the rock and foundation of their messed up, jacked up household. Either their parents were dealing with messy divorces, drug abuse, mental issues, and just flat out irresponsibility. These "kids" had to grow up fast because their parents never wanted to grow up. Yet, with the support of extended family, friends, and Churches they strive as "kids."

Here is my point. God looks for the willing not their age. Christendom has to stop being "conformed to this world." But "present ourselves to God." Some of the greatest servants of God can carry the Kingdom of God on their shoulder at the age of 12 (King David cough cough!). We have to stop blurring the lines that maturity comes in ages and stages but recognize that God is looking for the willing now. It was a 13 year old kid who said, "I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever He [God] wants. May everything you have said come true" Luke 1:38. Nine months later Jesus, the Son of God was born.

Sidewalk

2011-11-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

When I was in college there was this sidewalk that was never completed. It was probably built the same time the dorms were designed in the mid 60's. It stopped and opened into a field. First, I am never one to really obey sidewalks but this one totally entertained me. Second, every time I had an opportunity to introduce someone to this sidewalk, I did. When we got to the edge of the sidewalk I would always ask, "so where do you think it goes?" Those who know my playful personality would always come up with some playful imaginary land. My favorite always included anything that included Dwarfs, Zombies, Pixies, or animals that can chase, destroy or eat us. My literal friends would hardly pay any attention to it and say, "the grass" or "field." No matter the answer I wouldn't let people just step from the sidewalk to the grass. You had to make an adventure of it. You either had to jump, run, skip, or whatever but you absolutely couldn't just step from world of sidewalks into the world of your imagination.

Maybe I was just bored. Maybe it was a feeble attempt to connect to an inner child. Maybe it was a way to get to know people. Maybe it was a way to discover how creative or boring people can truly be. Whatever psychologist may call it, I discovered something about myself and my calling on that sidewalk that I didn't realize until today.

Matthew 13:1-9
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Large crowds gathered around him, so he got into a boat and sat down, while the people stood on the shore. 3 Then Jesus used stories to teach them many things. He said: "A farmer went out to plant his seed. 4 While he was planting, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it all up. 5 Some seed fell on rocky ground, where there wasn't much dirt. That seed grew very fast, because the ground was not deep. 6 But when the sun rose, the plants dried up, because they did not have deep roots. 7 Some other seed fell among thorny weeds, which grew and choked the good plants. 8 Some other seed fell on good ground where it grew and produced a crop. Some plants made a hundred times more, some made sixty times more, and some made thirty times more. 9 You people who can hear me, listen."

On my hunting trips I've gotten to know a lot of farmers. In the past two and a half years I've truly gotten to know one particular farmer named Roger. Experienced and aged farmers have this thing about them, something I call an "it is what it is" attitude and view on life. They have a cyclical understanding of life probably due to being in touch with the season of the year. This seasonal understanding means they are completely at the mercy of nature or in Roger's case "God's abundance." Whatever God gives God gives. Whatever God takes God takes. Again that "it is what it is" attitude. No matter the case you plant in due season. You maintain the earth and your livestock. You harvest in due season.

When reading the parable of the seeds. The parable is obviously about the seeds but its also about the farmer. Just as the farmer cast seeds into the soil. I introduced people to a sidewalk that ends. Where they go from that point onward is really their calling. My role as the front man has been so apparent as I look back on my life with Jesus. Just like the farmer has no idea what the harvest will look like come the following fall. I have no idea what a person's soul will be like at the end of their life. Like the farmer I hope for a good crop. I hope I have been diligent enough during the time of maintenance. But in the end God is in charge.

I know I have an overly creative brain that sometimes even scares me. It is so easy for me to take the common things of life and resurrect them for God purpose - a sidewalk, a old Macintosh Computer, a rope, a candle, sandals, its endless. All these things have been used to show the God (the original creator, planter, sustainer and harvester) behind all things. The God that cries for a relationship with us. Maybe I am just bored. Maybe its a feeble attempt to connect to an inner child. Maybe it's just way to get to know people. Maybe its how God just works. As Jesus says in many of His parables. "If you have the ears to hear and the eyes to see."

Life does have its cycles. I was reminded this week that is what Worship is truly about. A place to begin and a place to end. Some view Worship as an end point surrendering all the junk from the past week. Some view Worship as a beginning where you can start new. Some view Worship as no time at all but just an opportunity to be with God. Some of us it might be a cycle of all these things depending on what we are facing now. We need a constant reminder to be born again, to be resurrected, to be restored, to be nourished, to just be with God. Maybe the parable of the sower has nothing to do with the seeds or the farmer or the soil. Maybe it all has to do with the recognition that God is ultimately in control. If He is in control that means I am not! Amen and Amen!

Where does that sidewalk go?

Reborn (Teen 2.0)

2011-11-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

There are few books that have had a long lasting, world view altering impact on me; The Bible, The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky), The Fountainhead (Rand), Jesus, Through the Centuries (Pelikan), Messy Spirituality (Yaconelli), and now Teen 2.0 (Epstein). I am not going to give you my opinion on the book but more or less my perspective after reading the book twice.

What if we didn't look at teenagers as "children" or "kids" but biologically what they are developing adults? The entire classification of children, into adolescence, into pre-teen, then teenagers, then adults is completely skewed depending on who you ask - parents, the law, pharmaceutical companies, youth workers, teachers, coaches, etc. Every person develops differently. I was a late bloomer myself. I literally had no interest in girls until my late high school years. I had more of the Calving & Hobbs attitude that girls were dumb and only good for throwing water balloons at. But when my interest in girls happened, it happened really fast! Girls, that was all I thought about! Sound familiar to any parent's with teenage boys?

Epstein proposes that we break away from the American pragmatic classifications and consider "children" as needing constant nurturing and attention, puberty as the stage of transition and then adults. During the Conference I attended he counted how many times the word "child" or "kid" was used by those who introduced him. I believe he counted 53 times. His point in counting the terms was to introduce the thought that how we view these "children" or "kids" greatly impacts the way we think about them. If we view a 17 year old as a "child" or "kid" we register in the back of our brain that they still need constant nurturing and attention. But if we view them as an adult who has all the physical and mental tools to survive it all the sudden changes our perspective on how we raise them.

"Infantilization" is the term he uses over and over again throughout the book and during his presentation. Basically it means we treat teenagers like infants supported by government classification (school, law, and legislation) and pharmaceutical companies that profit the most in labeling teenagers. He willingly admits he screwed up his first kid by raising him the way all his neighbors did. But as a Harvard Graduate Psychologist he realized that he could do better. You'll have to read his book to discover his resolution. The title of the book is Teen 2.0: Saving our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescence. You, like me will probably disagree with much of what he says in your first reading. Yet, when I read it again I understood the subtitle, "Saving our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescence."

I had to be reborn again with my thoughts about "children" and "kids." I've always looked at teenagers differently this book confirmed many of my initial thoughts. I willingly admit I believe many parents baby or infantilize their teenagers. I remember a Bible Study where a mom struggling with a "child" in college openly admitted, "I screwed him up being a helicopter mom. The best thing I could have done is let him fail on his own and not intervene." I, unfortunately, have this conversation in some form or another with a parent, regularly. Since I have gotten back from that Conference I have had to make professional counseling referrals for parents needing help with their "kid" or "child." In the past I have toyed with the idea of getting a L.P.C. (Licensed Professional Counseling). Well after my experience for the past few weeks and especially after reading this book my toying around has now reached a level of inquire that I know I have about 50-60 hours worth of classes to take and a "daunting" 3000 supervised hours. Luckily, I work with a ton of teens and families who will edge me closer to that goal.

Just as Epstein realized with his on family, I realize that with the Ministry God has given me, I can do better. We all need to be reborn on a daily basis. I am constantly amazed how God does that in my own life. Sometimes being reborn happens instantaneously like rolling down the window and feeling the cool air, remembering the God is in control. Sometimes being reborn is a slow painful process; such a breaking an addiction or changing ones belief about something. My definition of being reborn daily means "not going back." There are certain phases of my life I never want to experience again. Likewise there are certain beliefs, ideas, and philosophies I can no longer hold on too. My views and beliefs about teenagers have radically been challenged. Like God always does He puts this road in front of me and says, "what are you going to do about this?"

What if we cared and loved people so much that the only thing we strive for is to see them be reborn into God's most excellent creation? What is awesome about that is that "we" adults don't have the answer, only God and the individual student know the answer. But what if we are allowed to walk side by side with them discovering their wholeness in God. What if? What if? Its awesome to be reborn.

The Best Volleyball Coach Ever!

2011-08-31T07:48:00.000-07:00

The final score was 25-5. An absolute beat down in the volleyball community. The kind of score that would make any player question their contribution (or lack their of) to the team. But the losing team never felt down about the score or their performance. Why? Their Coach!

The nature of my job includes going to a lot of sporting venues. I've been doing this since 1991 - football, baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, track & field, cross country, swimming, diving, gymnastics, dance, and whatever else is on the Title XII listing of School Sports in Texas. I've ben able to experience some incredible organizations, teams, clubs, individuals, trainers, assistant trainers, and coaches. But this coach was on a different playing field. Here is where Mr. Hollands Opus meets a Volleyball court.

I couldn't see the score board during the game. But watching the game it was obvious which team was dominating. Taking pictures, I was privy to be able to stand a few feet from the bench. The coaches tone was of confidence and determination but not loud nor did she ever yell. The only time she got out of her chair was during time outs. Yet, her players knew her deep, confident, determined voice like sheep wandering lost in a field.

At every play, even the losing plays (and there were a lot of those) you could hear her instilling confidence, positive accolades, praising efforts, etc. "Way to move towards the ball, Andrea!" Afters she missed the dig. "Keep focus it will come to you, Brittany!" After missing a serve. "Good timing on the jump, Erin!" Even though her hands were out of control and she completely missed the block. This continued the entire 20 minutes of the game. Even after the final ball was served and missed; it was one of those floaters where everyone on the court watched the ball land right in the middle of all of them. Embarrassing. But the coach said, "way to rely on each other girls, you'll get it next time!"

The final score was 25-5 you would have never guessed it. The losing teams body expression and attitude was that of confidence and well fought game. They left with a smile on their face and all under the directive of one incredible coach.

There are certain influences every child should have in their life time. This coach is one of them. To win any game is an incredible overwhelming experience of a job well done. But to lose a game and walk away with the same experience can only come from a core, a coach, a person who understands, this is only one moment. To lose with the understanding you truly gave it your best and more importantly you were praised throughout the entire will make anyone a winner in life.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1-2 says, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. I praise you because you remember me in everything, and you follow closely to the teachings just as I gave them to you." If I had a child I would want them to walk under the wings of this coach. In winning and in losing she isn't teaching volleyball she is teaching life.

The Disabler

2011-05-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

Phone in hand, he started thumbing through his apps to show me a picture. It was a picture of his daughters semi-new jeep liberty, rolled over, sitting upside down in a ditch after she had hit a telephone pole. His comment to me was, "looks like I gotta get her, her 4th vehicle." My emotional roller coaster went like this: horrified, shocked, then angered.

Before I digest my emotional experience I have to give a little background. Last year I had to visit a student down at Baylor Hospital because she fell out of a golf cart and had to be life flighted. To this day she only has 20% of her taste buds and 20% of her smell. Four years ago a student got into an accident with multiple students from our Church, after youth group. No one was wearing their seatbelt luckily no one was injured. Two weeks ago we had another student who fell out of a golf cart and had to be rushed to the hospital. The week after that there were students hanging on to every part of a golf cart jacking around our parking lot.

Horrified
I was horrified on two levels. First the scene of the accident was horrific but luckily the driver (daughter) was okay. I've seen many accidents but not too many where a jeep is turned over upside into a ditch with a telephone pole laying a few feet from it. Second the fathers flippant attitude toward the entire situation. Was he concerned for his daughters healt. Yes, but then was his comment, "looks like I gotta her her, her 4th vehicle."

Shocked
The comment caught me so off guard that I spoke before thinking. My reply was this, "I am glad she is okay and thank you for threatening every person in our communities life with your daughters driving skills." I know people get into accidents. It happens all the time. But to total 3 cars?! Seriously! Then buy her another one?! Wait, What?!

Anger
In the deepest recesses of my brain I couldn't help but go back to my parents lecture to me when I first started driving, "if you get a ticket you will pay for the ticket. You will then start paying for your own insurance. If you ever get into an accident you will pay for the deductible and won't be able to drive until you pay it (even if it wasn't my fault). If you destroy the car, you'll buy your own." This fathers attitude was so counter-cultural to my own experience I couldn't even phantom it.

Many teenagers see driving as freedom and a right. We must remember that it is a privilege not a right. Many parents understand and enforce this concept. Others unleash their students into the community putting their own child and others in danger. Freedom to drive is not a right, it's a privilege and responsibility that needs to be closely monitored. Give all that freedom to a teenager at the age of 11 with a golf cart or a teenager at the age of 16 with a half ton vehicle without being monitored is completely irresponsible. The State of Texas has a law that now requires teenagers to drive 6 months with only 1 person in the vehicle. There is no law on the number of friends your teenager can shove in their golf cart. The job of parents is to guide our children in their decision making process. What are you teaching them? As a community, it is our responsibility to be accountable to one another. What are we teaching them? So from now on, I see a group of under aged teenagers jacking around on a golf cart I am calling 911. Yes, even if you're a Church member and in Church parking lot!

I was ranting this topic to a nursing friend. She replied, "we call golf carts, `the disabler.'" She explained, "They (golf carts) are just slow enough to require no safety gear but cause the most long-term permanent disabilities to those who have accidents in them."

$48.00 Short

2011-05-02T10:55:00.001-07:00

About 3 weeks ago I took up the challenge to pay for everything in cash. Sunday night's I tally up what I believe my weekly expenses are going to be, pull that money out of the bank and leave my debt card at home. It's been a fun adventure so far. I get strange reactions from some people when paying in cash. Just like this morning…

Gas stations will not let you begin pumping gas until you pay with a debt card, credit card or give them cash prior to filling up. I walked into the store gave the cashier 60.00 explaining, "it won't take that much but I want to fill it up." She took the cash and I walked out the door. I loosened the gas cap, pushed the magical bleepy buttons, flipped the lever and started filling my car. $48.00 dollars later I walked in, got a cup of hot chocolate and a bagel. Walked up to the coutner and she said, "you gave me $60.00 right?" I nodded. She pushed a couple of buttons. Then put a look on her face. Pushed a few more buttons. Then another look. It was at this moment I realized she couldn't subtract $48.00 from $60.00. The line of customers started to build. I told her to give me $12.00 back and I would pay for the hot chocolate and bagel separately. She told me to hold on because she had to get her manager.

He came and had her explain the entire story. He replies, "Did you give him back his change yet." "No," she replied. He started pushing some buttons then asks her, "how much gas did he get." I butted in and said, "$48.00's worth." He then say's, "The computer doesn't show that you've gotten any gas." I told him the entire story over. "I gave her $60.00 in cash, filled up my car, came in got hot chocolate and a bagel. Just give me $12.00 back and I will pay for this separately." He again repeats, "the computer doesn't register you getting any gas." He crawls from behind the register, goes outside a few seconds later comes in and says, "you didn't get gas." Here is where I become frustrated and said, "I am telling you I owe you $48.00 in gas and you are not going to take my word for it?" He replies, "If the computer doesn't say it, I can't take your money." I then reply, "So all you are going to charge me is for hot chocolate and a bagel?" "That's what the computer says."

I feel party guilty because at the end of the day someone is going to be $48.00 short. Obviously I couldn't force them to take my money. That's a first. When did we become so computer reliant. When did we no longer take people at word value. There was obviously a break down in their system, a break down in our communication, and a break down in trusting their customers. If someone told me they owed me $48.00 I might second guess them but if I ran a business and someone told me they owed me I would never question their word. I was so baffled by the experience I had to question my own experience. When I turned on the car I watched the gas meter to see if it was hanging out by the "E" or the "F." Yep, it was full. I drove off.

I wish there was a theological response to this but I can't find one. I was trying to be honest in my debt to them, yet their reliance on computers and technology trumps my word and the space for truth and honesty. What are we becoming when an electronic device dictates truth over human experience?

Not So Great Commission

2011-04-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Standing in line ordering my meal, she approaches me with a tinge of excitement in her body language, and exhilaration in her voice. "I've been called to ministry," she states. "I've enrolled into [a local Bible College]." I listened with joy in her excitement and hesitation, whispering in the back of my mind to run away as far and as fast as you can. She then states, "I am currently working in the Children's area of my Church." I ask her about her calling. She tells me that she knows one day she will Pastor a Church but her mission field is America. Then surprisingly, under her breath, she whispers, "there are so many lost right here in McKinney."

At this point I've had a very harsh work week and this was the icing on the cake. In most situations I would have just nodded my head through the conversation but not this day. So in a non-whispering voice, I said loudly, "what do you mean there are so many lost right here in McKinney?" She was caught off guard returning to her whispering tone, "you know, the non-Christians." Defensively, I replied, loudly, "more than 90% of our country claims to be Christian, so you're looking for that 10%?" She replies, "no the real Christians." The people in the food line start moving away from us, hearing the tone of our conversation. Fortunately, it was my turn to order. My closing comment to her was, "I am not trying to discourage you but you're judgement is destroying Christ love for people." She tried to justify her stance but I had already stopped listening.

Walking out of the restaurant I was an angry bird ("bwaaaack," "crash")! I wasn't angry at this person but what I call bad theology. Bad theology is recited, repeated, and duplicated without much thought by its followers. It's just what they grew up with and they honestly don't know any better, nor have they thought about it, nor have they ever been challenged on it, and so it goes on. Not today. The foundation of ones theology or philosophy is what I have termed first premise. The lady I talked to today's first premise may have been a love from Christ, but I didn't hear that in the whisper of her breath. What I did hear was judgement and fear. Judgement on those who aren't "real" Christians. Fear that it is her obligation to make them, like her a "real" Christian. We wonder why people move away from us at lines in a restaurant or from our houses of Worship?

Am I against Evangelicalism? If it looks like this? Absolutely! Have I now become judgmental, the very thing I am writing against? Absolutely! I have become my own worst enemy. Yet, I am reminded that 98% of what hacked off Jesus were religious types of His day. Religious types that created a system that labeled those "clean" and "unclean." Meaning faith in His day was only accessible to those who submitted to a particular system of theology versus a God who asks that we "have no other God [or religion] before Him" (Exodus 20:2). Do your own Bible Study of the Gospels and prove me otherwise. How have Evangelicals failed to see that Jesus completely deconstructs the system of judgementalism of his day only to replace with an entirely new system of judgmentalism in our day?

Now, I know this one person in a restaurant does not represent the full spectrum of Evangelicals. But the fact that even one person continues down this line of judgement over love fails at the very crux of the cross. I've never seen the resurrection of Christ as an opportunity to judge and condemn others but to sacrifice all I have to show them a love that was worth dying on a cross.

There are many streets, avenues, bi-ways, alleys, avenues, and roads to Christ. When these roads are "orchestrated" and paved with the "love of Christ" by God He will receive the glory. When these roads are orchestrated and paved by fear and judgement, love is nowhere to be found and the only glory received will be those "we" convert to be "real Christians" whatever that means. Does this mean that we don't "go out into the world" as Matthew 28 commands. Not at all. When we go out we go out in love of God's people, not judgment and fear. Or is it maybe we've forgotten God created all people?!

Words of Curse

2011-04-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

In the heart of the French Quarter off Bourbon Street between Orleans St. and St Ann sits Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo. My cousin and I would frequent the shop during the summers. It was freaky, tantalizing to the eyes, creepy and sometimes just out right funny. Voodoo Dolls were my favorite. I never purchased one but as a kid I relished the thought of holding power over a person, encapsulated in a doll. Kinda like gun ranges that sell posters of Osama Bin Laden! Despite what pop-culture teaches Voodoo Dolls are not related to the Haitian religion. Voodoo Dolls are purely a New Orleans creation. The purpose of a Voodoo Doll is to curse a person by sticking it to them. You can imagine the popular spots of sticking it to a person (tee-hee-hee)!

A question that frequently comes up in Student Ministry is, "is it a sin to cuss?" My only the fly response has always been, "it depends on your intent." Examples I typically give are, "We've all have had moments where, in a hurry, in the morning, being half awake, we suddenly stub our toe. At that exact moment we may accidentally pronounce what some may deem and expletive." "We've all also had a moment where someone offends us knowing or unknowingly and we may have have purposely pronounced what some may deem an expletive." The intent of the first one is the result of pain. The result of the second one is to curse a person.

Now, I am not God, nor do I know how God views our words. There is no book in the Bible dedicated to words that we should not say. Biblically, we are not to use God's name in a way that would be disgraceful (Exodus 20:7 and Deuteronomy 5:11). Throughout both the Old and New Testament we are never to use God's name in making promises, business agreements, or deals. In Jesus first sermon He teaches us to say what we mean and mean what we say, "Say only yes if you mean yes, and no if you mean no" (Matthew 5:27). Paul in his letter to the Ephesians encourages new Christians to keep their conversations edifying that helps build the body of Christ and not destroy it (Ephesians 4:29). In all these there is nothing directly stated about what my students call "cussing." Does this mean that Christians are free to use words of curse? Absolutely not.

30 Jesus answered, "As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. 31 It happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. 32 Next, a Levite came there, and after he went over and looked at the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. 33 Then a Samaritann traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt very sorry for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds, and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan brought out two coins, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.'" 36 Then Jesus said, "Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?" 37 The expert on the law answered, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Then go and do what he did" (Luke 10:30-37).

It took an outsider of the Jewish tradition to show those within the Jewish tradition something was seriously wrong with how they were doing things. After I became a Christian one of the things I truly struggled with was keeping my speech edifying to the body of Christ. It wasn't that I would cuss a lot. I trash talked people all the time and enjoyed it. It was easy to make other feel lower than me, feel worthless about themselves, and in a certain sense I cursed them, without saying a cuss word. I knew the curse would stick with them because the words I said would sting (like the pin of a Voodoo Doll) for just a little while.

In the right setting this old habit will re-emerge its ugly head. Just last week I was at a soccer game where the words coming out of my mouth enticed the crowd to harass a particular player on the opposite team, so much so a police offer stood near that area. My goal of was to ridicule that person, it worked, I cursed him and never said a cuss word. Later that night a student reminded me I was not being a good role model. Talk about being punched in the kidney. Owey! That one hurt. Thank goodness, I am surrounded by Christians to keep me in check.

What is the intent of your words? Jesus asked this same question to the Jews about their religious practices. Words do have power. Certain words have more power than others because our culture has made it that way, or our use and emphasis of that word makes it a word of curse. God knows your heart. If you know God's heart you will do what St. Paul challenges us in Ephesians 4:29 to keep our words edifying in the building the body of Christ.

Voodoo Dolls have no power in and of themselves. They have power because we want to believe they do. Words have no power in and of themselves. They have have power because we want to believe they do. "I love you!" As a brother in Christ. "I love you!" I believe that word has power more than any Voodoo Doll ever could!

Jesus the Politician

2011-04-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

With an election year looming around the corner and the discussion of government shut down this Friday, I couldn't help think about religion and government. Despite what many may think or believe Jesus was not a Republican. To be honest Jesus stood more often in the camp of the less orthodox or more liberal rabbinical teachings of His day. Jesus was not a Democrat. Some may argue that He was anti-establishment because of his stance against religious leaders of his day. If that is the true, why do we have Churches today? Jesus didn't volte third party or was a Teacup Party supporter. Scripturally we can see Him in support of the poor, needy, and broken but we can't put Jesus in a political party but Jesus was definitely political.

The Democratic System of our country did not exist in Jesus day. Yes, parts of our party system, election processes and democratic make up came from Ancient Rome. But Jesus was not Roman, He was Jewish. During Jesus time one of the most corrupt Roman Leaders came into power Caesar Augustus. Caesar created a one sided government where the Senate had the ability to vote but he developed a system of vetoing anything the Senate would lobby. It also didn't help that Caesar had control of the military so if he didn't like the way you or your city, town or village voted he could use military might to make you change your mind or make you disappear. Also in Jesus day only Roman male citizens could vote. Jews were Jews not Roman citizens, so Jesus would have never landed in a political party, yet, Jesus was political.

Theocracy is of Jewish origin. It can mean the rule of God, God's rules or God as ruler. The book of Leviticus starts, "The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent, saying" (1:1). Thirty different times in Leviticus you have God speaking to Moses giving them rules or a means of living in relationship to God (part of the Torah). Thousands of years of development you have books to interpret those rules (Talmud), Kings, and Kingdoms; who lived under the assumption that God is ruler.

By the time Jesus rolled around a well established regiment dictated how Jews were to live in that relationship to God. Those who could afford or were clean enough to live that standard were comfortable within those religious parameters. They just didn't know any other way. Kind of like the bi-products and chemicals in the food we eat approved by our government. We just don't know any better so we just accept it, until we are shown another way. Jesus was that other way for the Jews of his day. Jesus began to define a relationship with God not based on the rules of God dictating ones action but one where God rules the heart and ones actions follows accordingly. The problem with this type of theocracy is that it deinstitutionalized the established religious order of His day. But we must remember at the beginning of Jesus ministry He states, "Don't think I have come to destroy the law of Moses or the teaching of the prophets. I have not come to destroy them but to bring about what they said" (Matthew 5:17).

Today in America we don't talk about sex, politics, and religion in the same camp's. It's actually illegal for a religious leaders to promote any one party or person from the pulpit. But it happens every week. It's actually illegal to speed but I know a Christian or two that might break that law. Some Christian's don't like to talk about sex from out of the pulpit but if you consider the volume of sexual contact the media presents to you in a 24 hour period; a 15 minute teaching about sex and the Bible should not bother you. Yet in America we like to neatly divide things out into their own area and category as means of organizing our lives and making sense of things (pragmatism). From a first century Jewish Theocratic point of view: sex, politics, and religion were part of the every day narrative of Jesus. He addressed all these issues head on. Remember the women at the well (John 4:1-42) sexually she was living in sin, politically she was in bed with a lot of people, religiously she would have been rejected by Jews. Jesus could have easily walked away but he confronted her on all issues. Ironically, many considered Jesus to be in error just talking to her. Jesus didn't let popular vote dictate God's love for humanity. Maybe we shouldn't either.

How does this help you in electing our next officials? Hopefully it doesn't at all. For Christians there is only one ruler: God. Christ fully embodied God on earth. We don't model our life style after Him because He tells us too. We model our life style after Him because of our love for Him and service to Him. Christ lifestyle embodied what theocracy could look like: service to the poor, needy and broken, questioning the religious leaders of his day but most of all modeling love for all of humanity. The next time you stand in a voting booth, consider your name on that list of candidates. Maybe God is calling you to be that candidate to model His Love, not the person you elect. In the words of our former Democratic President John F. Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country." LIkewise, "Ask not what your Church can do for you but what you can do for your Church. Likewise, "Ask not what God can do for you but what you can do for God."

Go, Be, Love, Now!

Communion of Bologna and Water

2011-04-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

He invites me to dinner before my evening hog hunt. He grabs a half drank Pepsi from the refrigerator. Placing it on the table he removes the rubber-band that's holding the half ripped zip-lock bag. He laughs that it's taken him a whole day to drink it. Placing the bread on the counter, he uses the butt end. He brags about how 90% of all the food he needs to buy he gets at the dollar store. Thus, my introduction to jalapeno flavored pig skin. Cutting a fresh grown tomato from his garden he asks if i like salt on it. I've never had a plain tomato as a side dish but I'll try anything. He pulls out a paper towel from his pocket that I am sure he has probably reused from earlier that day, if not the last few day's. He pray's for our meal thanking God, country, servicemen, and for those who never feast on a bountiful meal (such as our bologna sandwich, with mustard, jalapeno pig skin, and tomato). Amen!

He lost his wife over 15 years ago, who brought him to Christ after years of floating around spiritually and literally as he served in the Navy. She died of natural causes. Since then he has been faithful in tending to his farmland. He never talks about his life prior to meeting Jesus. I don't ask. Nothing seems to matter prior to Christ. He loves his Church. He is no longer a Deacon. According to his Church teachings you have to be married in order to be a Deacon. Yet, he still serves his Church (from what I can gather) more then the Deacons who are married. Silly Church rules but he is faithful. This is where the conversation turned deep.

During the meal I never answer my phone but I had told him I am expecting a certain call. Like clock work in the middle of the meal the phone rings. It was a Church that I had been trying to contact about work they need during our Mid-High Mission Trip this summer. The request, a wheel chair ramp for a 80 year old women who is homebound. After I hung up the phone I explained to him what the call was about. That is when he told me of a lady who is married to a guy who recently developed terminal cancer. He can barley move in his bed, he rarely gets out. Yet, he visits them once or twice a week to take care of any needs they have and pray with the couple. There is another lady who lives in a nursing home, who has dementia. She never remembers who he is, he reminds her every week. He visits another person who has fallen away from the Church, a "good man" he calls him but also says he is "living in error" because he refuses to Worship. Finally, there is another couple who lives in a trailer home. They don't have much he always brings them fresh fruit and meat whenever he has freshly picked the garden or harvested an animal.

He says, "I don't know why the good Lord has blessed me so much? I don't know how much longer I will be able to get along. I may need one of those wheel chair ramps your youth group builds one day." I could see a tear begin to form in his eye but he holds back. With all the pain, suffering, loss, and heartache his Church friends seem to experience, it never seems to bother him, except for tonight. He never talks about himself but allowed for a moment of honesty. He say's, "I will continue to serve the good Lord for as long as I am able." I left that meal torn between sadness of my 90 something year old friend and joy knowing that I too will continue to serve to the day I die.

Communion is the act of sharing a meal. Not jus an ordinary meal. But a meal that has meaning, whether it be over bread and wine or bologna and water. It is a sacred meal that recognizes the Lord's past, present, and future. It is a call to remember. As Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). We eat every day, we don't have communion every day. It only happens when we gather with people that we know well and celebrate all that the Lord has done. I can honestly say the best communion I have ever experienced was in Corpus Christie at a bar style restaurant with two families. We talked about life, future, God, commitment, faith, right there in the middle of the bar we prayed and thank God for the abundance of everything He has given us. I experienced that same type of communion just a few nights ago. Where in a moment of complete honesty I could look back over a persons 90 something years and experience God.

I was raised Catholic so Communion has always had a special place in my heart. In the United Methodist Church, Communion is one of the two sacraments that only an Elder of the Church can perform. For good cause, it is sacred. We celebrate an open table meaning you don't have to be a member of the Church or even a Christian but one desiring to know God or Christ, just like the earliest Disciples.

My favorite story of communion comes in Luke 24:13-34 in a story called "Walk to Emmaus." Throughout the story Jesus slowly revealed who he was to two Disciples. They walked and talked all day long. It wasn't until dinner, "When Jesus was at the table with them, he took some bread, gave thanks, divided it, and gave it to them. And then, they were allowed to recognize Jesus. [Emphasis is mine] But when they saw who he was, he disappeared" (Luke 24:30-31). In typical Jesus type fashion. He takes something as common as eating together and makes it an act of holiness. Just as soon as that moment of holiness is celebrated he flee's the scene. We all have our interpretation of why He leaves so suddenly. Today, the story teaches me to not to grasp on to any one mean as Holy and Sacred. But to find opportunities to celebrate a Holy meal with others who need to experience God's Holiness and Sacredness. It also teaches me that only Jesus can open our eyes to recognize His love and grace, if even for just a moment.

That is my challenge for you. To not necessarily plan a sacred meal. Maybe invite your closest family, friends, and their friends. Don't have an agenda for the night but with the Lords prompting live in communion. Communion is not only a sacred act, communion is a state of being recognizing God's desire to want to be with you and your loved ones. You can model God's desire for others but remember only the Lord can open their eyes to His love. We are just commanded to love and serve. When I am 90 something, (if the Lord is so willing) I will one day celebrate communion over bologna and water, with a 30 something year old. Amen, Amen!

For more information about Communion in the Methodist Church go to: http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.2311293/

O! Silly Little Man!

2011-03-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

It was end of the Dark Ages (1000 A.D.) when a funny little man emerged from a small village in the middle of Italy. Most modern day psychologist would say he had a mental break down of sorts but he called it a vision from God. Returning home from war, he rejected his family, friends, comfortably lavish lifestyle he grew up in, stripped away everything he had, according to some accounts, stripped off all his clothes and walked out of Assisi butt naked. He happened upon the small broken down Church called San Damiano, just outside of town. There he heard God tell him, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My house…" Francis took that to mean the Church of San Damiano but God had a much bigger plan.

For the next two year's he lived as a beggar on the streets and worked repairing small Churches in around the Assisi. In the year 1209 the lifestyle that Francis was already living was confirmed to him in a sermon. The Priest preached from the Gospel of Matthew "Don't carry a bag or extra clothes or sandals or walking stick" (Matthew 10:9). He didn't spiritualize the sermon as some internal life change. He sensed God was speaking this message to him directly and did so. He took off his sandals, made a staff and started preaching repentance in the streets of Assisi. This was very odd during this time period, only official Priest, approved by the Pope at the Vatican were allowed to Preach. Priest preached in a Church, where an offering could be collected, not publicly in the streets. He quickly developed a following, which as you can imagine created a rift with the local Churches. The Priest didn't necessarily mind him, but the Bishop of that area disapproved since he wasn't a card carrying Priest. The little man packed his bags and walked to the Vatican. He thought he could just talk to the Pope and get approval. Yea, not so much. The Bishop of Assisi was already in the Popes ear about this little man. The Bishop informed the Pope that this little man preaching in the streets would never help the Church grow financially. Reluctantly, the Pope eventually met with this little man and half-heartedly gave him his blessings. The sign of that blessing would be the group sporting a sick-wicked mullet called a tonsured. On April 16, 1210 the Franciscan Order was established with one Rule, "To follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps."

After the death of Christ the Church was in a constant state of development and growth. Most of the writing of St. Paul you can see him struggling with different Churches in that development and growth. By the time you get to Paul's last letter (he knew he was soon going to be beheaded) you can see him establishing who shall lead the Church: Overseers (1 Tim 3) , Deacons (1 Tim 3), and Elders (1 Tim 5). For the next 1000 years until St. Francis more and more rules, regulations, and licenses would be developed to be considered an "official church leader." Then all of the sudden you have a little man who hears the word of God, models his lifestyle accordingly, invites others to do so and challenges the very establishment that is supposed to be teaching that message.

Every time I put on a hoodie I think of this little man from the Dark Ages. No, I'm not gonna sport a sick wicked mullet but I am reminded what Christ asks is very easy. We just like to over complicate things. I know at my Church the calendar seems to rule before God in most cases. Before getting something on the Church Calendar you usually have to have it approved by the proper staff person, who then sends you a form to check off all your needs, who then clears it with other ministries of the Church, blah, blah, blah, blah.. Every Church has its system. You gotta have one so the Drug and Alcohol Group doesn't meet the same time Children are running around the Church. Hmmmmm…. Ever wonder how many alcoholics and drug addicts we have meeting on Sunday Morning. Thank God were all equal in God's eyes, not the calendars.

Two weeks ago we had a student in our Youth Group who found a need in our community called the S.P.C.A. Due to the economic crisis our country non-profit organizations are hit hard. The need, food for their pets. So she started backing these wonderful, pallet savoring, mouth watering, treats called "cake balls." Imagine all the ingredients of your favorite cake in a bite size treat - ummmmm good. I'd tell you how good they are but I gave up sweets for lent. I did get to see and smell them. Yea, I was dying. NOT FAIR!!! The first week she made $400.00. The following week she made close to another $400.00. One of her friends is on a team to end cancer. She stoled her recipe and in her first week raised close to $300.00. I invited these students to bring these wonderful treats to Youth last night. I didn't get calendar or financial team approval. To be honest I'd probably be in trouble since they were pulling money for outside organizations instead of the needs of our Church. But here is where I put on my St. Francis hoodie.

Serving God is as easy as seeing a need and filling it. Too many times people come to Church thinking the Church is here to serve me. All the while forgetting the Church is just a building. The real Church is you being used by God to serve the needs of this world. These two students were blessed by God to see a need. They creatively found a way to fill that need. Instead of asking permission they just did it, like the little man of Assisi.

So the next time you walk through the doors of your beloved building called a Church walk around and ask God to give you eyes to see the needs of your congregation. You may be lead to pet ministries, children ministries, adult ministries, college ministries, hunting and fishing ministries, cooking ministries, youth ministries, media ministries, Facebook ministries, alcohol and drug ministries, sex recover ministries, text messaging ministries, music ministries, Twitter ministries, arts ministries, publication ministries, prayer ministries… Now, when God gives you the eyes, don't talk about, shave your head, sport a mullet, and just do it.

When Francis heard the call "Go repair my house…." He thought it was about a building. Little did he know God was calling him to change the hearts and attitudes of the entire Church. So what you might think is just a small thing God is calling you too, it might be the very thing that revolutionizes the hearts and attitudes of your congregation. O! Silly little man, thank you for reminding us, "To follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps." Pretty simple, eh?! Amen! Amen!

Screaming Babies and White Flags

2011-03-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

On my way to through the restaurant I heard a group of mothers say, "I would never let my child…" ironically the very next second she was screaming at her 5 year old to stop running around the restaurant. I've been in student ministry for a long time. It amazes me how great parents raise one child that is successful and the other child is strung out on drugs, in debt and constantly in and out of jail or rehab. In most cases the kids attended the same Church, same Youth Group with the same influences and support. So, laughingly in my head, I said, "you have very little control…" as I passed by their running screaming child.

Many modern Churches teach that God requires a 10% offering (Genesis 14 and Genesis 28). Other Churches teach of giving your first fruits (Leviticus 27:30, 2 Chronicles 31:5). Others teaching giving your best (1 Corinthians 16:2). I've never supported the 10% idea. Why? Because it's not our money! When we say 10% belongs to God we can begin to think the other 90% belongs to us. I don't like the first fruit's idea. Why? Again, there is a separation between what is God and what is yours. I definitely don't like the "give your best" idea because its based on you being the owner of this thing called money and you giving God what you believe is His due. We don't own money. It is a gift/a tool given to us by God. If we are not careful this thing that we think we own and control can quickly become the screaming child in the restaurant. We think we can control it but in the end it ends up controlling us.

This concept of giving 10% of your offerings to the Church is modern. Biblically, we can find references in the Old Testament where people were required to give offerings up to 20+% of their first fruits (how you like them apples - literally). The problem between the Levitical Laws and now is this person named Jesus. Luke 20:19-26 reads:

19 The teachers of the law and the leading priests wanted to arrest Jesus at once, because they knew the story was about them. But they were afraid of what the people would do. 20 So they watched Jesus and sent some spies who acted as if they were sincere. They wanted to trap Jesus in saying something wrong so they could hand him over to the authority and power of the governor. 21 So the spies asked Jesus, "Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is true. You pay no attention to who people are, and you always teach the truth about God's way. 22 Tell us, is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 23 But Jesus, knowing they were trying to trick him, said, 24 "Show me a coin. Whose image and name are on it?" They said, "Caesar's." 25 Jesus said to them, "Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and give to God the things that are God's." 26 So they were not able to trap Jesus in anything he said in the presence of the people. And being amazed at his answer, they became silent.

We don't see it today but the joke was on those trying to trap Jesus. The crowd would have definitely been laughing, internally. They may have also questioned their own view on paying taxes and money. Any good Jew in Jesus day would have known the first of the 10 Commandment by heart. Some went as far as carrying these Commandments in a small box wrapped around their wrist. The first of anything is the most important. Most of us know the First Commandment as "You shalt not have any other God before me." In shortening this First Commandment we miss the point of the joke in Jesus response. The First Commandment reads: " I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, You shall have on other gods before me. You shall not make yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. [Emphasis is mine] For I am the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the father on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments" (Exodus 20:1-2). The Jews of Jesus day would have had this memorized. So when Jesus replied, "Show me a coin. Whose image and name are on it" (Luke 20:24). All the Jews witnessing this event would have had that, "O! Crap, that just happened" expression on their face. Busted! The fact these guys were carrying coins with graven images on them screamed, "you are breaking the first commandment and you show me who you truly serve." The real hair rising lesson is the response in verse 20:25 "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and give to God the things that are God's." The real question is "What is not God's?"

Biblically, in Acts, when the first Christians started meeting, there wasn't this idea of giving a certain percentage to the Church. No, they surrendered everything to God and to the needs of one another (Acts 2:43-47, Acts 4:32-37). Acts 4:32, "The group of believers were united in their hearts and spirits. All those in the group acted as though their private property belonged to everyone in the group. In fact, they shared everything." Not 10%, not their first fruits, not their best, but everything. Where did they get this radical concept? From a person named Jesus who surrendered everything He had, His life, for the salvation of our soul. Not 10%, not, His first fruits, not His best but everything He had, for us.

The first Christians modeled Christ sacrificial love not in a 10% tithe but in a lifestyle that says, I have surrendered my life to His will. The same holds true for us today. To be a follower of Christ means one has surrendered their life to Him. That act of surrendering is the first step. God will never force you to surrender your will to His. God will reveal things that you need to surrender. One of the hardest things for us to surrender is our pocket book. To surrender means to say, "I trust you." To say I trust you isn't a 10% trust. It is a 100% trust that says I will go and do whatever you want, whenever you want, knowing that you are going to take care of me 100% of the time (not 10%).

We have roughly 900 families in our congregation, out of the 900 families, we estimate 850 give some money on a regular basis. Out of the 900 families, roughly 350 families commit to giving on an annual basis. In the past ten years I have been here, it has been absolutely amazing to watch what our Church has been able to do with the 1/3 of the congregations pledges. Could you imagine what we could truly do if we decided that it's not our money to give. Could you imagine the ministries we could develop if we decided that God has given me this tool to help love the world. Could you imagine the lives that could be changed if we were better stewards of God's gift called money. Could you imagine….

Today is not about giving 10%, your first fruits, or even your best. It's about surrendering your entire life to Christ who gave His entire life for us. I struggle daily with the issue of surrender. My will versus His will be done. When Jesus said, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and give to God the things that are God's." The real question is "What is not God's?" If after asking this question God begins to reveal things in your life. Surrender it my friend. Surrender.

Surrender is a good place to say, "God you win. You win! Amen and Amen!"

Sola Scriptora

2011-03-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

On my way to Kroger today, I was switching through radio stations, to hear a spokesperson criticize a book a Pastor wrote. He started off his litany of disagreement with the following statement, "using scripture alone, because that is what I believe in as the final authority…" Thank goodness I live close to Kroger. When I got back into the car, the same guy was going on about how the book this Pastor wrote has only caused more confusion because he is basing things off his opinion and life experience and not the Bible." Again, thank goodness I live close to home!

Sola Scriptora is Latin for "Scripture Alone." In Church circles this phrase became popular during the 16th century after a guy named Martin Luther decided the Catholic Church had grown corrupt (and it had). His internal struggle with the Catholic Church drove him farther away from Church teachings, so he turned back to Bible for resolution. In his writing "Formula of Concord" he states, "we receive and embrace with our whole heart the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the pure, clear fountain of Israel." To us this may not seem like much. For 16th Century Catholics the one word "apostolic" was calling the entire Church and primarily the authority of the Pope into question.

Within the United Methodist Church Sola Scriptora is not the standard mode in interpreting God. Scripture is important but it's not everything. John Wesley lists four things that help us interpret God: Scripture (the Bible), Tradition (what Church and History has taught us about God), Reason (your brain), Experience (your personal journey with Christ).

Now, if I seemed a little closed minded about the spokesperson on the radio, I was and will always be closed minded to people who use the Bible as their ultimate authority. Why? The Bible was never intended to be a documentation of how to live life now. It was, as David Lessner said in yesterdays sermon, "the Bible is a collection of stories that were recorded about a communities understanding of God." If Sola Scriptora is truly the answer, I don't thing I want to turn to the Old Testament as a means of solving problems with other faith traditions (Psalm 137:7-9).

I do believe that Scripture is important. I believe it does have a depth, brevity, life, substance, meaning and helps us interpret God and the world around us. But it is not the final word. John 20:30-31 reads, "Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in Him." I love the ending of John's Gospel (+). It clearly points out that "life in Christ" does not end at the closing of his final chapter but goes on and on and on and on. If your willing, you are part of the ongoing Biblical Story.

Finally, something I always like to remind and teach. The Bible that most of us carry today with 66 books, 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament, was not finalized until almost 400 years after Jesus death. Even after it's finalization most of the world couldn't read until after the 15th century when Gutenberg finalized his printing process. So this whole idea of turning to scripture as a means of discussing your faith is new. The people in Jesus day didn't say, "well according to John 3:16.." blah, blah, blah…. All they had was their own life story! Not, sola sciptora.

Maybe during this week you don't go to your Bible Study or Sunday School or even do your own daily Bible reading. Maybe you become more in-tune to YOUR STORY! What does YOUR LIFE experience say about Christ?

The night that I accepted Jesus into my life a 4th grader looked into my face and asked, "what can you tell me about Jesus." I had been going to a Youth Group for four years. I had a lot of fun. We did a lot of cool stuff, I made a lot of great friends but when it mattered most, I had absolutely nothing to say. This 4th grader wanted to know Jesus. I remained silent. I directed this student o a more mature Christian. I went and had a long conversation with God. One of things I remember praying that night was, "God, who are you?" Right then and there, like the first century Christians, I didn't have a Bible to turn to for answers and direction. I had a desire to know God who would write HIs story in my heart.

Discover your story today, this week, this month, this year. That may be the only thing that matters when someone asks you about Christ. If you are willing share it here. It might be a message of hope to someone you least expect.

Tattered Redemption

2011-03-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

I wear this shirt at least once a week. Meaning I may wear it for a few days during the week. It's an old nursing scrub that I found at Goodwill at least 12 years ago. I purchased it for a summer mission trip because we were told to dress appropriately and comfortably in the Texas 100 degree summer. Since then, this shirt has been on every mission trip! It's got years of paint splatter, grease marks, blood stains, and even used it as a lawn mower gas cap when we lost the original one.

Whenever I wear it and happen upon conversation with a stranger their first question is, "are you a painter." My reply, "no, it's my Missionary shirt." Their next reply is, "you're a Missionary?" "No, I'm a Student Pastor that takes a bunch of Students on Mission Trips."

Now there are three camps from which people respond. A). Those who favor Christianity praise my efforts in Church work. B). Those who don't favor Christianity and end the conversation. C). Those who aren't sure where they are with the Christianity thing and may be willing to listen.

Jesus tells a parable/story in Matthew 13:
3 Then Jesus used stories to teach them many things. He said: "A farmer went out to plant his seed. 4 While he was planting, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it all up. 5 Some seed fell on rocky ground, where there wasn't much dirt. That seed grew very fast, because the ground was not deep. 6 But when the sun rose, the plants dried up, because they did not have deep roots. 7 Some other seed fell among thorny weeds, which grew and choked the good plants. 8 Some other seed fell on good ground where it grew and produced a crop. Some plants made a hundred times more, some made sixty times more, and some made thirty times more. 9 You people who can hear me, listen."

When I first studied this parable in college I focused on the seed that landed on good ground or good soil. I personalized it on how we need to keep our hearts unsoiled so that the God's seed can grow in our lives and produce a good crop. That was many moons ago. I've learned many life lessons since then. And as any good parable/story goes, there are multiple lessons to be found depending on what narrative your life is facing right now.

These many years down the road, I wouldn't talk about the soil, or the seed, God, or the things that stopped the seeds from growing but the farmer. Last year I helped a farmer prepare a small track of land to grow watermelons. He churned the land up multiple times with his plow. We hand picked all the trash, rocks and debris out of the plot. He re-plowed the plot again. He let it sit for a few weeks to oxygenate the soil. Watered it occasionally. When the time was right he planted the seeds. He grew enough melons to feed himself, family, friends, a few unwanted deer and rodents, and sold the rest. He doesn't necessarily need the extra money but it helps. There was a time he did need the money.

Farmer's today and in Biblical days would have been similar to my farmer friend. The farmer in the parable may have needed to sell every watermelon just to survive financially or he may have raised them for family, friends, local (unwanted) wildlife, and profited little. But in either case the farmer is defined in his ability to raise produce from birth to life, maintaining the crop and harvesting it in due season.

Jesus later in the parable states:
18 "So listen to the meaning of that story about the farmer. 19 What is the seed that fell by the road? That seed is like the person who hears the message about the kingdom but does not understand it. The Evil One comes and takes away what was planted in that person's heart. 20 And what is the seed that fell on rocky ground? That seed is like the person who hears the teaching and quickly accepts it with joy. 21 But he does not let the teaching go deep into his life, so he keeps it only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching he accepted, he quickly gives up. 22 And what is the seed that fell among the thorny weeds? That seed is like the person who hears the teaching but lets worries about this life and the temptation of wealth stop that teaching from growing. So the teaching does not produce fruit in that person's life. 23 But what is the seed that fell on the good ground? That seed is like the person who hears the teaching and understands it. That person grows and produces fruit, sometimes a hundred times more, sometimes sixty times more, and sometimes thirty times more."

The farmer has his/her job. To plant the seeds. God takes care of the rest. There was a time when this parable was about my heart being the good field and God growing His good seed there. Now I find myself in the role of the farmer, just doing what God asks. Plant the seed and trusting that God will do the rest.

So I wear this nasty shirt with paint, grease, blood and gas stains. It's a seed of sorts. It allows opportunities for seeds to be thrown on the ground, stones, mixed up with weeds, and on good soil. I don't know the outcome of these fly-by conversations about Missionaries, Church, God, etc… But it's a seed. It's not too overt, like a cross or Jesus bumper sticker, but an opportunity to share of a love that I can barely comprehend myself.

It's amazing that God always has the ability to turn what is wretched, nasty, disgusting, and tattered in society for the good of His Kingdom. No this shirt's not for sale. Go make one yourself. It's a blast being in the mission field!

Orange Peel

2011-03-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

I was sitting at a Staff Meeting (or what I like to call Angry Bird Session) a few months ago, when one of my co-workers was impressed with my ability to peel an orange in one cycle. I learned about a year ago when I started my eating healthy kick. It took a little practice and since my diet then and now consisted of a lot of fruit and veggies, I had a lot of practice. But once you know how to do it, it's easy.

You can't do this with every orange. It really starts with a good healthy orange. One that doesn't look tight and feel tight. It has a bit of a squish to it. You don't know what it feels like until you've picked a few, have someone show you, or just figure it out. After selecting the right orange you start peeling a very small section near the top (which is actually the bottom of the orange) just big enough to stick your thumb in. Carefully remove the top portion of the with your thumb. Then all you do is keep pressure between your thumb, the orange peel and the orange. Slowly rotate the orange clockwise (or counter clockwise if you're a lefty) and downward. When you get to the bottom you remove, what I call the hunk (you know the juiciest part of the orange at the bottom that seems to have those baby size oranges in the root). Done.

Learning to do anything takes practice. One of the best challenges a former Youth Pastor of mine gave me many years ago was, "live the next 24 hours practicing what you truly believe and know about Jesus Christ." I had just come back from an awesome camping experience. It was one thing to live and act like a Christian at a Christian camp, where most people were Christian's. It's an entirely different event to come home to the working world, where you sometimes feel like the only Christian on the planet.

I took up that challenge for a 24 hour period. I didn't know a ton about Christ then. I knew He loved people and did nice things. So that was my goal for 24 hours. Love people! Be nice! There was just something different about that day. I constantly look for opportunities to be nice and loving. When the opportunities arose, I did it. At the end of that day, when I finally laid my head down there was this peace, joy, and exhaustion that carried me into my night time prayers and snores.

It worked for one day. Why not two, why not a week, why a month, why not two months, why not a year or tow, why not a lifetime. Looking back on that week at camp and the challenge that came after camp, my life was radically changed. During camp I had already committed my life to Christ and ministry, whatever that meant then. All I said was, "God use me." I didn't care if that meant cleaning toilets or serving in a monastery. I just wanted to serve God the greatest peace, joy, and exhaustion I ever experienced. The week after camp and the challenge given to me laid the foundation for the rest of my life.

That same week I decided to quit my lucrative job of $25-30,000.00 a year (hey it was the 80's and I was 19). I enrolled into college, which I never thought I would get into thanks to my old High School Philosophy about grades. I used to tell my parents I believed in diversity and giving each grade an equal opportunity. They didn't like my philosophy too much. After being accepted I received a letter from the Dean of the College saying, I was on "Academic Probation" even before registering for my first class. Then I had to figure out how to pay for this thing called College. The school helped me find a ton of scholarships and being an independent student helped a ton. In two weeks I'd have an entire new life, in a new town, working towards my future. All because I was willing to practice what I believed in Christ for one day.

The prayer I had that week was "God use me and if God will's He will make a way." Seems to be the same prayer I pray every day.

My challenge for you is to "live the next 24 hours practicing what you truly believe and know about Jesus Christ." I don't know what God has in store for you but if it's anything like my experience, you might go to bed peaceful, joyful and exhausted. In the next week you might begin to wonder what it truly means to serve God, you might be surprised where you are in a month, you might look back in a year or two saying, "God, why didn't I do it your way all along?"

Bedtime Story

2011-03-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

On the 10 hour drive home from Santa Fe, New Mexico last week, we popped in the movie "Bedtime Stories" starring Adam Sandler. I love the movie because it appeals to my sense of creativity, hilarity, obnoxiousness, and it has Adam Sandler. There is a sub-line during the movie, where Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler) tells his young nephew Patrick (Jonathan Morgan Heit) and niece Bobbi (Laura Ann Kesling), "There aren't happy ending in real life. Sooner you know that, the better."

In the midst of the devastation in Japan and the political unrest in Libya the issue of "theodicy" comes to question. Theodicy is defined as God's goodness and justice in the face evil or why do bad things happen to good people.

Here are some common responses I've been give to the question:

a). God allows people to go through bad things so they will turn to Him.
b). God does not create evil. The devil does. We are in a battle between the two.
c). God does not cause evil, people do.
d). God does not cause evil He comes to heal after the fact.
e). God is going to do what He is going to do and we are called to respond faithfully to whatever God does.

There are holes with most of these responses:
a). If God allows people to suffer evil go through bad things, it calls God's loving nature into question.
b). If the devil creates evil and God allows it, it call's God's loving nature and authority into question.
c). If people cause evil, then how do we explain natural disasters, accidents, and diseases?
d). If God is a healer only after evil has come it calls His omniscience (all powerful) nature into question
e). If God is going to do what He is going to do and we are called to respond faithfully then we are to be non-thinking beings and just respond.

We can give Biblical examples to these responses:
a). Abram about to sacrifice his only son Isaac, which in my book is a pretty evil thing, as a means of testing Abram's faith.
b). In the story of Job, Job is used as a pawn by God between God and the evil one.
c). King David raped Bethsheba. Which caused an entire litany of evil events to happen.
d). Throughout most of Jesus ministry we find him healing after the fact. Never explaining the source of what
e). When Jesus sent the 72 Disciples out he gave them clear instructions to go into towns and share His message, heal the sick and help the poor with no explanation of why these people were sick and poor to begin with.

For those truly wrestling with these issues some of these arguments will help but only alleviates the rational side not the emotional or deep felt pain. I've always narrowed it down to perspective. As a Christian, I try, as often as I can, to keep an eternal perspective of all things. What that means to me, as I shared during yesterday's sermon, God has already won. I have to claim that victory, yes, even to the point of death, even if that death is caused by, what we call, evil.

It is my belief, that eternity doesn't begin after you die from your physical shell of a body but begins after you accept Christ into your life (Romans 6:1-11). In this new eternity evil no longer has dominion. It has no dominion over me or the things of this world. I don't even like to call it evil but opportunities. Did Jesus warn of evil? Yes, when He sent His disciples out he said, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves." Matthew 10:16. But Jesus didn't keep them from the wolves. As a Disciple of Christ He won't keep you from the wolves either. As stated in yesterday's sermon again, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome/conquered/am victorious over the world." John 16:33 For Christ to have victory over my life also means He has victory over this entire world. Whenever their is pain, struggling, death, depression, or those things we commonly attribute to evil, I see opportunities to minister.

After 911 I stopped watching the news. There was enough pain, struggling, death, depression and things we commonly attribute to evil in my own community of believers that I am called to minister to them. Does this mean I turn a deaf ear and not respond to needs around the world. Not one bit. When God needs me to respond to a need around the world, He shows me a way. But yet, those in my own faith community were the priority.

Theodicy isn't about God but about perspective. If evil has already lost, there is no theodicy, just opportunities to minister to those around you and world. As a believer in Christ you have victory already written over you and the message of God's love written in you. It's now time to share that perspective with those struggling with theodicy.

Now I Sing

2011-03-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

Many years ago I was asked to give a teaching at a Church of Christ Youth Conference in Galveston, Texas. A friend of a student in our Youth Program visited our Youth Group one evening when I was teaching from the book of Acts. At that time I didn't know this friend was a Student Leader in their Youth Group. About a month later I get a phone call from this friend and asked if I could give that same exact teaching.

At that point I knew absolutely nothing about the Church of Christ. In one hand I can tell you how many people I know are from that Denomination. But I had been to a couple of Youth Conferences. I've taught this same teaching so I was confident that I could get done what I needed to get done. I was given a 35 minute window to teach, during a Worship Service. It was a very formal Worship Service. I looked at the outline of the service on the bulletin - Opening prayer, Responsive Prayer, Songs from the Hymnal, Prayer, Message, Offertory, Closing Song, Benediction. Looked pretty routine to me. I loved the Worship Service because it was all student led. The only thing that really caught my attention were the songs. In the Church of Christ they do not use instruments. So typical for that age group, you've got some kids that are choir trained and really use their voices mightily. Then there is the other 80% who just kinda mouth the words just loud enough to hear themselves sing but hope no one else hears them. The songs were long and wordy. By the time we got to the third song. The person leading music reminded the students that God wants us to "make a joyful noise" to the Lord. It was odd because I found no joy singing these songs with joy.

Now I love music. I love to sing. Everywhere I go there seems to be a song in my head. Before the invention of I-Tunes and the internet the only way to access new music was through whatever the radio stations gave you. After the internet came along I turned off the radio and surfed for songs that I liked. I-Tunes has a Genius application that looks through your song list and suggest bands that fall in that genre. I listen to most everything, I'll give anything a chance. I don't like Rap. I remind my students its one letter short from "crap." I don't listen to bands that want to destroy the world or other people. But everything and anything in between, it's probably on my play list. Some bands are phenomenal lyricist but not the best musicians. Other bands don't even need to sing, in my opinion, but they are musical geniuses . In all my year's of music consumption up to this point I've never experienced a Worship Service that was purely acapella. It could have been good, there were some great singers that made me want to listen to them. But since 80% or less of the students in that particular Worship Service mumbled the words, it really set a tone for that Worship Service.

I know the Church of Christ has Biblical reasons for not using music. But that is not what the focus of this discussion. The history of the Christian Church has shown that any time the Church closes it's doors to major cultural shifts in music, they've often lost the battle or lost its people. In the last three decades the Church has wrestled over this issue of music. In the 80's it was a major issue to have an electric guitar or even an electric keyboard during worship. In the 90's the internet strolled along and the Church wrestled with making its Worship Services more technically savvy. Having a screen an projector was a major argument. In the last 10 years, Churches have wrestled over modernizing their Worship Space to be more appealing. In all these battles some Churches resisted and found its numbers declining. While other Churches grew. Here I stood in a service in 1995, singing out of hymnal written in the 1950's with no musical instruments. I am curious how many of the students remain faithful to this day in that denomination.

Rob Bell teaches that wisdom is like an old tree planted by a river. What has sustained that tree throughout the centuries is not only its deep roots but its ability to flex when the wind blows strongest. Trees that don't last are not because of its deep roots but because of it's inability to flex when the wind blows strongest.

Music has the ability to touch the body, soul and mind all at the same time. Singing and instruments also have the ability to touch these senses. King David played for King Saul to calm his past nerves. Someone this past week didn't want to ski a black until he could get his I-Pod set on a specific song. The Church will always have music. If we care to reach the next generation for Christ we may need to consider turning into their music. Christian Music has its place but if you were to ask any Christian Radio Station what % of their population is under the age of 21, I'd be surprised if it topped 10%.

It wouldn't hurt to maybe compare your Church music to what is being played on the radio. But if Church music is more about your interest, what you get out of it, your favorite hymn, etc. You may need to consider if your Church is about coddling the members or reaching out to those who are truly seeking.

Down off Old Santa Fe Trail

2011-03-16T06:15:00.001-07:00

A young German couple stands a few feet from me just outside of Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They, like me, were waiting for their friends. He was close to six feet tall. She was about 5'5." She stood right next to him, adoring him, looking up and into his face. Distracted, he looked down the street. She gently drew him near. They talked. I couldn't understand a word they said but it must have caught his attention. He smiled and gave her a gentle kiss under the warm spring air. After a few moments their friends, also German, caught up to them. It was another young couple also in love. The two couples walked north up Old Santa Fe Trail holding their beloved's hand. They didn't seem to be in any hurry to get anywhere. Form my persecutive they just wanted to be together and absorb whatever the streets of down town Santa Fe would give them. The drama being lived out was something you'd see out of a movie. A perfect love story being played out in perfect weather surrounded by a perfect back drop of a bustling tourist city. If I was directing a movie I would have duplicated this scene. The body language these coupled shared, their pace and the adoration they gazed into each other's eyes screamed of one thing, "love."

Love captured in moments like these make those who are single jealous; those who are in love, even more loving; those who are in a fight with their beloved, forgiving; those who are anxious to be in love, wanting; those who are soon to be engaged, anxious; those who have been married for many years, thankful; those who are newly married, reflective; etc… Love is mysterious, hard to define but when we see it, we know it; when we experience it, it excites and confuses us and when we have it, we realize its not something that can be grasped.

My father was not a dad that said, "I love you" much. In our history together I can only recall one time he said those words to me. My mom is a mom that used those words all the time. Together they shared with me this thing called love. Last month during Valentines day I asked my students, "how did your parents meet" during a lesson time. The stories that came back were funny, cute, and some "awwww….." moments. Then I asked, "when did your parents fall in love?" Not a single person in the room could answer the question. Though one student said, "my dad kissed my mom on their first date." We all laughed. So I sent them home with the assignment to find out. The following weeks reports came back and their answers were exactly what I expected: mysterious, hard to define. Each student who shared at least had the conversation with their parents; those parents were able to give a definitive moment when.

John 16::27 reads, "The Father Himself [God] loves you." Each person who reads these words has a different life experience to define what that Bible passage means to them. Some grew up in a great house hold where their dad modeled this thing called love. Some grew up in a household where dad's love was absent and void. In my case I grew up in a household where love had to be earned through accomplishments in grades or sports. Some never had a dad in their house. Some have had multiple dad's either through foster parents or re-marriages. For some of us, when we hear the word "father" our natural inclination is to think about that male figure who raised us. So we carry baggage, good and bad, behind the word father.

According to the Gospel of John this is one of the last few words Jesus shared with his Disciples at the Last Ssupper before he was crucified. In Jewish tradition the word, "father" or "abba" has always been linked historically to God. So in the Jewish mind frame when Jesus was sharing the words "father" with His disciples, their first inclination was direct link to God, not the male figure who raised them. For the Disciples to hear that "God loved them" was completely radical at the time. For thousands of years the Jewish people had either a Temple, A Rabbi, Traditions, Rituals, etc, they would have to go through to experience God's love. Now, Jesus teaches, "The Father Himself loves you" period. The word "Himself" is completely odd in the Bible passage unless you dig deep in Jewish History. "God Himself Loves Me?!"

Yet, here in Christian America our tendency to think about our dad as father, instead of God as father, is what it is. Maybe God might be calling us men to be a John 16:27 role model for the next generation. Maybe God is challenging us to model His love to the world. Love to first our spouse, then our kids, family, friends, and then the rest of the world. Why our spouse first? Because there was a time and place where those words, "I love you" meant something mysterious, undefinable, exciting and confusing between you and the woman you chose to be with the rest of your life. Throughout your years together you may have started to make a definition behind those words, lose the excitement those three words used to bring, and work out the confusion. One thing you can not do is lose the mystery behind it. In my belief, that alone comes from God. When you show affection to your wife, that mystery of love returns only to put you in a place where it becomes exciting again, undefinable again, confusing again.

Believe it or not, that outside affection I just spoke of is always being watched by your kids, family, friends and the world. Yes, we men are all being watched, even by strangers. I saw love outside of Loretto Chapel, just off of Old Stata Fe Trail in New Mexico. Complete strangers but I saw it - love. As Christian men we now have the incredible blessing an opportunity to show God's love to those who we chose to be with, our kids, our family, our friends and complete strangers. Why not hold your wife's hand more in public places. Why not share moments of adoration. Why not show love?

There is a couple I've known for the past ten years. They always invite me vacations, holiday's, etc… During our vacations it never fails that at one moment the father will always make it a point to show outward affection to his beloved wife. It's not a show, its just who he is. At one moment as we walked south down Old Santa Fe Trail he reached for her hand. They walked side by side. Their kid was watching. So was everyone else. Their kid's gonna be a great dad, father, husband and role model for God. You, see, it does work.

No Credentials What-So-Ever

2011-03-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

This past week I've had the privilege and joy teaching someone to snow ski. He'd never been on the mountain before and decided to try snowboarding at first. He went to snowboarding school provided by the resort and after taking an absolute beating, decided to hang up the board and pick up some ski's. The only problem was by the time he finished swapping out his snowboard for ski's, the afternoon ski school session had already started. That is where I entered the scene and offered my services.

I have no credentials what-so-ever to be teaching anyone how to snow ski. It can be a very dangerous sport. I hold no certificates or degrees in snow skiing. I've never been trained on how to properly educate someone about the mountain, their equipment or where to even begin. What I do have is experience. I've taken the basic ski-school that most people go through when starting. After a few years of wearing myself out on the mountain and never really improving I paid for a private all day session. During the next six hours on the slopes with my instructor, I over came a lot of bad habits I picked up and mental walls I could not overcome.

I honestly didn't know how much I could push this newbie in skiing. He took a beating from snowboard lessons earlier that morning. He complained about bumps and bruises. He simply looked exhausted. Yet, I also knew if I could get him to enjoy skiing all those bumps and bruises would quickly go away (at least for a little while). For the first 45 minutes we didn't even touch the ski's. We worked on balance, body position, weight distribution, etc. This wasn't a sit down and talk discussion. I was literally forcing his body into positions, helping him find his own balance and coaching him how to distribute his weight properly. After about an hour and a half we climbed up a small hill (neither one of us were too excited about waiting in the long bunny slope line). I then gave him one ski made him climb up the hill and had him to ski down to me. We repeated this process over and over and over and over again, adding more equipment each time. He was getting exhausted but also had the glimmer of "this could be really fun" in his eyes.

We took one run down the bunny slopes. I could see then he was a natural! In that one run, I could see, he possessed all the control and technical skills any person would ever need to get up and down a mountain. Next we headed up a 1,000 foot slope. At first we slowly worked down a green. He was doing great, more importantly he was having fun. Without him knowing I made him follow me through a blue, he skied down the mountain like a champ. When we got to the bottom of that run I told him, "you just did a blue." The look on his face was of absolute exhilaration and joy.

His second day of skiing he skied a black. He kept up with his friends that have been skiing for years. He worked through different terrain parks. Skied through trees and only wiped out once (it was funny too). He's not a pro by any means but he possess all the skills he will ever need to get up and down the mountain, keeping himself control but having fun along the way. It's now his choice to use what he has learned.

The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1 says, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." I've never had to Disciple anyone through anything. As Christians we are called to live the "Great Commission" found in Matthew 28:19, "Go and make Disciples of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age."

This experience in skiing has me thinking about what it means to "make disciples." Skiing is specific to learning a few things and applying what you learned so that you have fun in what you are doing but also keeping in control so that you don't hurt yourself or others. Skiing is also specific to a time and place. Christian Discipleship isn't limited to a time and place. Where skiing and Christian Discipleship does merge is with the learning aspect.

When passing on my experience on how to ski I physically had to put him into those scenarios so that he could get a grasp of what it will be like on the real slopes. I coached him how to use the equipment he has to work with the mountain and not against it. I skied with him down two runs and with absolute confidence knew he was good to go. I unleashed him onto the slopes and he's enjoying every second of the experience. I'm beginning to see that Christian education might benefit in following this pattern. We may need to physically put people into scenarios to get a grasp of what it will be like in the real world. We need to equip those who are hungry to know God with the tools they need to work for His Kingdom. We need someone to run with who has had a little more life experience and when they are absolutely certain that we are doing good, they can unleash into the world.

Maybe in conjunction with Sunday School, Bible Studies, and Small Groups we can have a mentorship within these groups that deal with real life issues Christians struggle with, for example: time, money, commitment, Worship, etc. I know many groups talk about these things as a means of fellowship or just getting stuff off ones chest. But I am talking about real mentorship in the way that Paul says, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

I've been fortunate in my lifetime to have 3 mentors who I know live by the I Cor. 11:1 statement. I willingly follow their lead because I know they are following Christ. They didn't approach me with the bluntness that Paul dis in his writing to the Corinthians. But I knew them. I knew the heart of what they were after. I knew that in all things Christ came first.

Are you that person? In all things does Christ come first? What is at the heart of who you are? Do people know you? Do others desire to follow your lead because they know you follow Christ? If this seems like a tall order you may need to do a heart check. The job of the Church is to make Disciples. The Church is not the building or its staff. The Church is you. If you do not take on the responsibility of raising the next generation of Christians, who is?

Maybe you felt like me earlier today, possessing no credentials to be teaching anyone anything about skiing or in our case the Christian life. The thought just terrifies you. You may not have any certificates or degrees in Christian Education. You may have never been trained on how to educate someone in Christian living. What you do have is your life experience. The earliest followers of Jesus didn't have the New Testament in which they sat around doing Bible studies. They had the joy of Christ in their heart and shared that life experience with one another. I kinda like that idea! A lot!

So who are you going to mentor today?

By Water and Fire

2011-03-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

I have a 91 year old friend who is from a different Christian Denomination. Within, his Denomination they teach that Baptism isn't only a necessity in becoming a Christian but one must be fully immersed into the water, like Jesus was immersed in the Jordan River (Mark 1:9-10).

We agree to disagree about most things. But he truly has a hang up on this one topic. He truly believes, with solid conviction, that my salvation in Christ comes into question because I was never fully immersed in my Baptism. He goes as far as to say that Churches (Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterians, and others) that support Baptism by any other form other than full immersion are living and teaching in error.

Sprinkling started in the early Church as early as 50-90 years after Jesus death and resurrection. It was used as a last result if either water was in short supply or if the person desiring to become Baptized could not physically be immersed into the water due to their age or health. After Christianity became the official religion of Rome and spread throughout Europe, Baptism by sprinkling took on another form. Many believers within the Church during the Dark Ages, Middle Ages and into the early Renaissance period refused to be Baptized until they were almost dead. There was a belief that if you were Baptized but then sinned, ones Baptism would not count. Christens then (primarily royalty and the affluent) would be in their death bed, waiting almost until their last breath before being Baptized. The only way to Baptize these believers would be through sprinkling.

I'm glad many don't think this way anymore. Or do we?!

In the United Methodist Church there are two Sacraments are reserved only for Elders of the Church - Communion and Baptism. A sacrament is ceremony that the Church believes to be handed down from God, in Christ to the Church. An Elder, in the United Methodist Church, is a fully Ordained Pastor, approved by a local Church, a group of Elders, a Bishop and a Conference. An Elder in the Bible was basically an overseer of a Church, selected by Paul. (Titus 1:6-9)

John Wesley himself viewed the mechanics of Baptism as non-essential nor necessary for salvation but was designed by God in the build His Kingdom. In some Churches you will the rituals of Communion and Baptism referred to as a Symbol or Sacred Symbol which we live out. The mechanical act of Baptism does not save a person, but its ones belief in Christ. Where John Wesley and others teach is that its not just a baptism of water but of water and spirit that one truly draws near to the heart of God.(+)

At the core of Baptism, no matter what denominational background one comes from, we understand a person is surrendering their life and will to God and is raised again as a new person, with new life, a new purpose and a new will to live. We are reminded of this newness every time a person or child becomes Baptized. We are reminded in the United Methodist Church that, "we are responsible in raising up one another in faith." A responsibility that we should not tread lightly.

Yet some believe in the literal or what my 91 year old friend calls the "Biblical act of Baptism." I also believe in the Biblical Baptism that Jesus received in the River Jordan by John the Baptist but do not believe it is an act I can repeat. #1 I'm not Jesus. (Thank's be to God). #2 I'm no where near the Jordan River. #3 John the Baptist kinda got beheaded. Thus, anything we do to duplicate this act is mere symbolism, in my opinion.

In American Christianity there seems to be the imaginary check list that we go through: Baptism, check. Confirmation, check. Worship, check. Communion, check. Offertory, check. Sunday School, check. Small Group, check. On a personal level our list may be: Prayer, check. Bible study, check. Be kinda, check. Volunteer, check. etc… We believe in doing these things we find favor in God. We believe in doing these things we might be kept from harm or danger. We believe in doing these things we find salvation. If this is true we need to take out about 3/4 of our New Testament and half the Old Testament.

The New Testament stories I read I see Jesus calling religious leaders of His day into question, they had a pretty lengthy check list. Every time Jesus Disciples did something they thought would be a good idea on the religious check list (not spending money on expensive perfume, serving versus worshipping, protecting Jesus from harm, etc..) Jesus called them into question. The New Testament I read isn't about Jesus saying "you need to do things this way." That is the last thing Jesus wanted. What Jesus wanted then and now is YOU! You to surrender your life to Him. You to be raised as a new person, with new life, a new purpose and a new will to live. From here He want's you to trust Him. The acts of Baptism, Confirmation, Worship, Communion, Offertory, Prayer, Bible Study etc… Is an outward symbol of a inward desire to know and share God. This is what I believe the Baptism of the water and spirit is about. Living God outwardly because God is living inwardly within me, and you. But again, this is all my opinion.

I know me and my 91 year old friend will continue to disagree over this topic. At time I just want to yell "Saducee." Yet, I respect him and his opinion. At times, I lower myself, and call out holes in his Denominational traditions - a very non-loving, judgmental thing to do. We always end this argument in prayer and saying, "God only you know the way." Thus, he trusts God. I trust God. In the end, that may be what God is teaching both of us, to trust Him.

(+) [For facts about the United Methodist Church and Teachings go to www.gbod.org]

The Only Pastor They Will Ever Need

2011-03-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

At times students and parents will come to me and say, "I need you to talk to (insert name) they are struggling with their faith." Though I think I am a pretty dang cool believer in Jesus, directing them toward me is often the worse thing you can do? Why? God has purposely delivered the person's name you inserted in the statement above into your hands. You may be friends at school, co-workers, a person you play sports with, etc… For whatever reason your paths have already crossed. Your personalities have melded. You have a history. More importantly they've let their barrier down around you enough for you to know their joys, struggles and life story. When you ask a Pastor to become involved one of two things will typically happen: A). They are open and receptive willing to share their life story. B). Closed and non-receptive and unwilling at first to share their life story. In either case, their is an issue of trust that has to be developed in either scenario. A trust that you have already established.

The Church is too wordy, especially in America in my opinion. The way many Church programs and activities are structured is based around us sharing words about God. For some the teaching or preaching aspect of a Worship service is held with high regard or the apex of a service. Sunday School classes and small groups are based off reading a Biblical narrative then sharing questions and opinions about the narrative. On Weekend retreats and camps, we follow the same format. The downside is that some Pastors believe the weight of their words can actually change a persons life at that one moment. Likewise, Church curriculum and program writers believe that if they can creatively script just the curriculum or program lives will be changed. I have 20 years of ministry under my belt to say, a person has never spontaneously accepted Jesus Christ without people like you already involved in the narrative of their life.

In Acts 8:26-40 their is an odd story about a follower of Jesus named Philip and an Ethopian. The Ethopian was reading a passage out of Isaiah and Philip asked him, "do you know what you are reading?" The Ethopian responded, "how can I, unless someone explains it to me." For the next several miles as Philip and the Ethopian talked. The Ethopian came to believe that Jesus was the Christ and accepted him." The Ethopian was later baptized. Phililp disappeared (literally) from the scene and the Ethopain returned home.

Some have used this story as a means of making God mystically come alive in words. If, that were the case, why didn't God Himself just get the Ethopian to understand the words he was reading out of Isaiah? We further need to put the story in the context of the entire chapter. After Jesus death and resurrection the entire city of Jerusalem was split. In the book of Acts, you see the once lost and confused Disciples of Jesus begin to teach that Christ was the God. Many came to believe. Communities were developed. More importantly these communities were developed in loving support to one another - they ate together, they prayed together, shared their possessions and in the end loved being together. That is when there communities really began to grow. Read Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37.

Back to the story of the Eunuch. The Eunuch was either coming from or going to Jerusalem. There is no way he could have avoided the controversy behind this person of Jesus. Second, possessing the written word back in Biblical times isn't like the books we have today. They were scrolls. Huge scrolls that usually had to be carried in multiple jars and in this case multiple jars in a chariot. So don't get this imagery that the Ethopian had a pocket Bible. What we call our New Testament hadn't even been established yet. This Ethopian was highly educated because he could read the Hebrew text coming from Ethopia, the Old Testament was translated in thousands of languages back then. If this Old Testament text which he was reading from was translated, that would only mean either this Ethopian was very wealthy or the person he was picking the scrolls up from was very wealthy. The written text back then was literally hand written and it took years to finish. People in Biblical times didn't just sit around reading books, like we do today. They were cumbersome scrolls that usually had to be rolled out and laid down upon a solid surface. So when this Ethopian was reading this it would have become very apparent. Not like Christians who hide their Bibles in magazines at Starbucks.

All this to say there is a context that we can't quite get in this story, unless you know history in antiquity. This story isn't about some random guy who knew nothing about Jesus and upon meeting Philip learns from a bible then believes. The story has a rich context. The Ethopian knew about the controversy in Jerusalem. He had these scrolls that spoke of a coming Messiah. He know wanted to know if this Jesus was that Messiah that his scrolls spoke about. This is when he meets Philip. For the next several miles I doubt Philip was cross referencing Old Testament passages hoping that his deep understanding of the Old Testament would bring the Ethopian to a point of believing.+ No, Philip probably talked about His personal experience with Jesus. What he saw, what he learned, all the miraculous things that Jesus did, and probably ended it with the story of Jesus death and resurrection. Remember their wasn't a written New Testament here. The only thing Philip had was his life experience and his heart.

Maybe, that is all you have is a story. You may not have memorized a single passage in the Bible. You may not have ever been involved in a Bible Study or small group. You may not have even been in the Church for a long time. Yet, you still have a solid belief that Christ is the way. You know that and accept it and all the sudden you have a friend in a worse place then you. You still have your story. Share that story of how God delivered you and your trust in Him, no matter what your history may be.

For those of you involved in the Church remember that Peter in Hebrews writes that "you are a royal priest hood" Hebrews 2. So, the next time you get the inclination to have "your friend who is struggling talk to a Pastor" you may be the best Pastor that person ever needs.

Umbrella's (The Doctrine of Atonement)

2011-03-12T05:33:00.000-08:00

The Umbrella, as we understand it today, is a great device that keeps rain off whatever we deems necessary to stay dry. That being said, I don't use umbrella's. I was that kid that ran through the rain, jumped in puddles, laughed at lightning, and ignored my mom's constant chant of, "you're gonna get sick and die!" Historically, the Umbrella originated out the Ancient Near East to keep the sun off of the wealthy and privileged. In the great town of Nineveh (yes, that town Jonah was commanded to go and preach but rebelled against God, got eaten by a big fish only to be vomited up on its shores three days later) has sculptures of people carrying umbrellas. The umbrella's basic design is to keep the natural elements of the sky be it sun or rain off our skin.

Our lives are dictated by a non-existent meta-physical thing we like to call time. Time is linear. Time has a starting point and an end point. The early ancients dictated time by the sun, moon, and stars. They planted crops, harvested fields and animals, and made many predictions and prophesies depending on the earths natural rotation. Today we have our I-phones, Blackberry, laptops, cars, billboards etc that tell us the time of day. I argue we can't go anywhere without having an electronic or mechanical device that tells us the time of day. Like our early ancestors we calendar our lives around the seasons. Likewise, our days have a starting and end point. As the great scholar of Ecclesiastes wrote, "there is a time for everything and everything on earth has its special season" Ecclesiastes 3:1. Ironically, at the same time, time has no beginning or end. It's illusive. We can't keep up with it and at times it seems to control us. It's eternal. We understand that God is eternal. Revelation 4:8 states, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." This understanding of time in non-linear, abstract, no-beginning or end and illusive. As linear thinking creatures its difficult to grasp the non-linear time frame. Yet within our linear thinking something within us compels us to consider the eternal, the never ending and what lies beyond the grave.

So what is this relationship between time and umbrellas. It's my personal way of interpreting what is known as the doctrine of atonement or how the human race is made right before God.

I'm not a big fan of Christian T-shirts, Christian bumper stickers, Christian music or other external items that identify you as a follower of a certain way. The Jesus I knew looked like, smelled like, ate like, hung out with every day people. More often hung out with those condemned or shunned by society. He chose to go to the slums of his culture and not outwardly fashion a certain belief. I'm not a fan of the guy carrying a John 3:16 sign at games. I don't even like our faith being centered on that one particular passage. Why? In a linear thinking world it really screws up the Old Testament. According to the proponents of John 3:16 no one in the Old Testament has a chance of God's salvation. Abraham questioned God, Isaac wrested with God, Noah was a drunk, Moses dis-obeyed God, David was a rapist, etc… Did any of these folks have a chance to "believe in their hearts and accept Christ into their lives" (excuse my cynicism)? Did anyone in the Old Testament receive "the new Baptism" - sprinkle, immersion, dunk, or otherwise (again, excuse my cynicism)? Did they have a chance to receive the Holy Spirit? Absolutely not in our linear thinking of time! Christ, literally and linearly came after they did, yet this is what "Pop-Christianity" or "Cultural-Christianity" favors today. Even those who are not Christians know our tag lines of belief.

Here in lies the problem. We've tried to confine Christ within our linear frame of thinking.Yes, Christ was physically born into this planet at a specific time. He lived and walked among people for a certain time frame (33 year or so) and died on a specific day. This we can understand. But the resurrection changes the entire game. (Woot! Woot!) That is where our linear way of thinking now has to shift to an eternal way of understanding. Why, because we who believe and accept Christ are eternal creatures now, not after we kick this shell of a body!

What if the umbrella of salvation was intended for all of humanity? What if this umbrella of salvation happened on the Cross of Calvary (at least for American-European Christianity) or at the birth of Christ, the Incarnation (for those of Orthodox or Eastern Russian Christianity). What if this umbrella of salvation that happened at a specific time was meant to be an eternal act of grace for all of humanity? More importantly what if God's umbrella of salvation is really out of our control and completely dependent on God's mercy?

You see in the end the doctrine of atonement has been a measuring stick for "us" in the in the religious community to state who is "in" or who is "out." Those going to heaven and those that are not. This would be a good time to reflect on how Christ dealt with the religious leaders (Saduccees and Pharsees) who had measuring sticks that dictated others righteousness or holiness before God. This would also be a good time to consider how Christ treated the prostitute, the tax collectors, the paralyzed, those with financial difficulties, etc of His day - with love.

Finally, John 3:16 reads, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, so that whoever may believe in Him may not parish." Have you ever considered how many "I" statements Jesus makes in the Gospel of John. Yet, this one passage, the one passage many Christians hang their entire faith on, Christ speaks of Himself in 3rd person. Have you ever asked why? The Third person narrative removes the "I, you, me, we" subjective to its audience the reader. By writing in third person narrative it is unemotional, impersonal, and in a certain tense eternal. Was Jesus being purposely illusive, abstract, non-linear? Maybe, just maybe we weren't intended to hang our faith on one verse and wear it like a shirt. Maybe, Christ salvation isn't about who we think is in but about His love for the world. Maybe the four gospels aren't about what it means to believe but a model of how to love the way Christ loves.

As a kid I didn't use umbrellas. I thought they were silly things that kept you from experiencing whatever God wanted you to experience at that moment. As a matter of fact I took advantage of the change in weather. I jumped in puddles, laughed at lightening and ignored my mom screaming, "you're gonna get sick and die." I still don't use umbrellas. I don't use them in my faith. The doctrine of atonement is a good mental exercise for Christians to sit around a circle and talk about over coffee and donuts. In the end the "how" or salvation is completely in God's hands. The Christ I know wants me to love Him and love my neighbor with every ounce of my being. Not love him and judge my neighbors life style.

Time to go play in the rain...

Fermented

2011-03-11T06:07:00.001-08:00

A few years ago a group of my older High School students got into a pretty interesting debate over the issue of alcohol. For some it was a means of defending their recreational weekend drinking, that they didn't think I knew about. For others it was a means of condemning those who chose to party on the weekend. Not only were they breaking the law but they were breaking God's law.

This is where the conversation got real interesting. One of the students proposed that the water Jesus turned to wine at the wedding in Cana was un-fermented (John 2:1-11). I thought they were kidding at first but the look in their eyes stated otherwise. This person believed this with absolute conviction. The other students told this person they were nuts. Then all eye turned to the so called Biblical Scholar in the room - me.

Here was my answer in a nut shell.

Cana is next to the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is very salty. In that region of the world and in that time period wine was considered more tolerable then water. Historically, they did not serve grape juice (unfermented wine) at weddings, they served wine. Culturally, then and now, it is common to serve the best wine first and then break out the whatever was left to entertain the guests. The rules of hospitality were important in Jesus day. Within the Jewish culture in Biblical times treating your friends, guests and more importantly strangers would make or break ones reputation.

Today when we think of Weddings, most of us think about that 45 minute to 1 hour ceremony where the couple is united in "The Holy act of Matrimony." In Biblical times, the banquet or what we would call the reception was more important then the matrimony itself. Biblically the money spent on the wedding didn't focus on the dress, rings, flowers, photographers, etc… but the banquet. Even the Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Matt. 22:1-14) was all about the guest and not the Matrimony.

This is where Jesus enters the scene. From all accounts Jesus wasn't even at the Matrimony but showed up much later in the evening during the banquet. It is here Jesus mother confronts Jesus and says, "were out of wine." Jesus in short says, "why are you telling me? My time hasn't come yet." Looking at the Disciples Jesus mom says, "do whatever he tells you." Jesus commands them to get the jars of dis-stilled water (remember the water in their time was nasty) and when they began to pour it out to the guests it was good wine, it was the best wine they ever had."

The Biblical point of the story has nothing to do with the fermentation of wine or not. But the phrase Jesus used, "my time has not yet come."

Today when we think of wine and the Church we think of the Lord's Supper. For good reason. When Jesus celebrated the Seder (the Passover Meal) with HIs disciples, wine was and still is one of the most celebrated ritual during the meal. Four different times during the meal the cup would have been raised and drank to celebrate God's redemptive act in the Old Testament. Finally, the cup of wine would have been raised one last time called "The Cup of Elijah" but they would not have drank from this cup. Here is where Jesus raised the cup and said, "This is my blood which is the new covenant that God makes with his people, This blood is poured out for many to forgive their sins (Matthew 26:28). When the Disciples sitting around the table heard the phrase "poured out" the hair on the arms would have been raised in memory of what the prophet Isaiah said, "I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life to the point of death and was treated like a criminal. But he carried away the sins of many people and asked forgiveness for those who sinned."

Back to the wedding at Cana, the wine Jesus speaks of when He tells His mother, "my time has not yet come" He was referring to the new Covenant that took place at the Last Supper. The New Covenant of love, life and forgiveness.

Now to the students who used this Biblical story as a means of justifying their social drinking. I reminded them that the Bible isn't about living a certain moral code but a relationship with Christ. To the students who condemned those who chose to party on the weekend. I reminded them that the New Covenant of love, life and forgiveness was not just for them but for all of humanity, including those sitting right across from them.

So I invite all of you to drink of the New Cup. A cup that offers love, life and forgiveness. If you've given yourself over to too much drink. Remember Christ is really the source of happiness, now what you find at the bottom of a cup. If you judge those who drink, i encourage you to empty the cup of judgement and fill it with the life of Christ and allow Christ to "pour out" HIs love, life and forgiveness.

Ring, Ring...

2011-03-10T05:21:00.001-08:00

Family, the word often congers up the emotional good, bad and ugly. No matter what disposition you come from the bad and the ugly always seem to outweigh the good. As time heals the good also seems to be the knight in shinning armor that eventually breaks through the darkness.

Peter and his brother Andrew were the first Disciples of Jesus (Matt. 4: 18-20). The brothers James and John were the next followers of Jesus (Matt. 4:19-21). All four of these men were fishermen, the lowest on the economic table, one of the least respected in society, yet Jesus chose them.

Mid way through Jesus Ministry an argument arose between the disciples about "Who would be the greatest" (Luke 9:46). Though there is no textual proof, I can almost guarantee that the argument was started by one of these set of brothers. Do you know brothers? The one-up-man-ship that goes on between guys on between guys in competition (the sports field, video games, business, and the opposite gender) is only enhanced 10x when brothers are involved.

Knowing my own family dynamics, if Jesus would have called me I would have been totally fine. But if he would have called me and my brothers. I might have had a moment of, "uh… dude… do you have any idea who this person is…" If my brother would have chosen to go, I may have decided to stay behind and take care of the family fishing business. I know I am not the only one that feels this way.

I've had a student recently tormented about the thought that their mom and dad may not be going to heaven. They gave a litany of reasons why: "drink excessively on the weekends, they don't go to Church, they fight a lot, etc…"I listened with compassionate ears, reminded them that God does His thing and to pray for them. I also encouraged this person to talk to their parents individually when things are not so heated around the house, like maybe the next time they are dropped off at school or the next trip to the grocery store.

During a moment of pure honesty the students broke down and said, "I've truly learned to depend on God recently." What they weren't saying is they've lost trust in their parents, they've lost trust in depending on them, they don't feel like they can turn to them because of all the problems they were going through. That their teenage world issues are absolutely nothing compared to the "heck" going on in the home (You, had to be at the Bridge this past Sunday to understand this last phrase).

Jesus in Matthew 10:34-38 reads
34 "Don't think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 I have come so that 'a son will be against his father, a daughter will be against her mother, a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law. 36 A person's enemies will be members of his own family.' 37 "Those who love their father or mother more than they love me are not worthy to be my followers. Those who love their son or daughter more than they love me are not worthy to be my followers. 38 Whoever is not willing to carry the cross and follow me is not worthy of me."

Jesus was not anti-family. What Jesus was saying is you must be willing to measure the cost of what it means to follow Him. In the past month I've had a Senior tell me their interest in going into Ministry and the Mission field. They also informed me how much their parent are against their decision. I reminded them of this verse.

To this day, I still wrestle with if one of my brothers, a professing atheist, will ever be in Heaven. The things he did to me and my family is undeserving of the Heaven and God that I understand. That may be the point. What I do know of Jesus is, my brother is exactly what He would have gone after. Who I deem worthy of Heaven and God, is really my problem, not God's. When we see hopelessness, God breaks through with hope.

Family baggage is never easy. Yet, we all have it. It is hard not to judge. When we've lived with the condemner for so long. Yet, Christ being who He is, calls "all." Though we sometimes ignore that phone call from that one sibling or relative. Christ continues to call. Maybe I won't ignore that phone call next time. Maybe I won't let the emotional baggage of my past condemn my brother to heck and maybe give him a word of hope. Maybe, I need to remind myself that the Jesus who died and resurrected my life has also died for my brother. Maybe I need to show a little love to someone who seemed so loveless. Maybe, I've been the one driving my brother away from Christ because of my judgment, instead of letting love rule. Maybe I need to pick up the phone..

Ring, Ring...

Let's Go Fishing

2011-03-09T05:10:00.000-08:00

Call it instinct, intuition, hope or faith. But every outdoors person eventually develops this thing. I remember my first solo fishing trip with my dad as if it were yesterday. He bought a boat during his mid-life crisis. Didn't tell my mom or anyone else. He just saw it, bought it, drove home with it, the faced the wrath of mom. We all knew he liked to fish but I knew he just got tired of standing on the banks of the lake.

We left early and drove to Lake Conroe just North west of Houston. We stopped at the bait shop to buy some minnows. I remember having white powdered donuts and chocolate milk you drink out of a square box for breakfast. I remember the smell of heavy coffee and the talk of catching the first fish, the biggest fish, the most fish, etc… We pulled up to the lake just before sunrise. I sat in the boat, life jacket on, as he attempted over and over and over and over again to back the boat into the water. It seemed like it took forever and I toyed with the idea of sitting on the dock until he could figure it out. Eventually we were ready to go and I asked the question, "so where are we going?"

Back then not every boat had a Fish Finder, G.P.S., and every other electronic gadget known to mankind that helps them locate the illusive fish. The boat my dad bought was about as plane jane as you were gonna get - two chairs, a motor and a steering wheel. After asking my dad that question, I instantly knew, he had no idea where he was going. I don't even recall us even having a map of the lake.

Lake Conroe is a fairly large lake with a trees, brush, lush vegetation, rock piles, and everything a fish could ever want as a home. It's known for an abundant catfish, crappie and bass population. My dad loved to crappie fish. We drove around (just because it was fun in my opinion) and randomly stopped by a large outcrop of trees sticking out of the water. We were on the crappie fast. My dad caught the first fish. Then the second. Then the third. At this point I thought he was cheating, even though we were using the same minnows. By the time he was on the fourth fish he actually let me reel that one in. We both then realized all the crappie in the lake seemed to be on this one tree. Graciously, my dad shared his spot. We reeled in fish after fish. Then the spot got cold.

We drove towards a rocky bridge and another outcrop of trees. We didn't have much luck there. So we drove closer to the bridge. Again not that much luck. We fished the rocky banks near the bridge again not much luck. Finally, we stopped smack dab in what I thought was the middle of the lake. There was nothing around us. My dad said there he just knew there were fish there - how's he obtained this secret knowledge I have no idea. I dropped one line deep. Real deep. All the way to the bottom and set it down next to me. Set another line for crappie. Somehow or another we were on the fish again. Not as intense as it was earlier that morning but at least my bobber was bouncing up and down.

After about an hour or so of fighting the wind and the waves I was getting scared, anxious, tired and hungry. We were packing up to go. I started reeling that line I dropped all the way to the bottom. When all the sudden I thought I snagged it onto a tree. I gave it a few tugs to free it up. Only to realize this tree was moving. My asian eyes grew 10x larger. My dad knew what it was by the way the line was moving and with a big smile on his face and excitement in his voice he said, just reel it up. It didn't fight that hard it was just heavy. At one point I thought the line was going to snap or the pole was going to break. Finally, after what seemed like forever the creature from below emerged. A big nasty catfish. After using the net to drag it into the boat, we guesstimated the fish was just under 10#.

There are many secrets about being in the great outdoors that one can only obtain from others. There is a foundry of knowledge to be shared and gained on every trip to the lake or woods. There is an experience to be shared and had that can only come from being in the field. When Jesus told his first Disciples to cast their net onto the other side of the boat after a horrible night of fishing, they took said, "why not?" It was at that point Jesus said, "come, with me and I will make you fishers of humanity." Jesus met these first Disciples on their turf and invited them into a relationship with Him.

The Church (not the building but its people) is a place we can learn about this thing called life. There is a foundry of knowledge to e shared and gained on every trip. There is an experience to be shared and had that can only come from being involved. Just like those first Disciples some of us came to faith by saying, "why not?" Some of us it takes years to believe. Christ will always meet us on our turf and invite us into a relationship with Him.

Maybe we should follow this same example. Maybe we should meet people on their turf and invite them into a relationship with us. Some will come to faith quickly. Others may take years. Remember none of the Disciples truly knew what it meant to believe in Christ until after His resurrection. By inviting people into our lives on their turf, there is an experience to be shared and gained that can only come by being involved. We can share this new friendship with other friendships where we now have deepened the foundry of knowledge of this thing called life.

During this season of Lent. Let's go fishing. God's way. In His time (not ours) He will reveal his love and grace. He only wants us to go fishing. Cast your net on the other side my friends, and hold on!!!

Gum Ball Machines

2011-01-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

David Lessner read's out of our Hymnal the following words,

"On behalf of the whole church, I ask you:
Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness,
reject the evil powers of this world,
and repent of your sin?"

It was a Sunday where a large number of new Church members decided to commit to Christ and the Church. The proper Liturgical or Traditional response is, "I do." And often as Liturgy and Tradition goes we often respond without ever considering what we are actually saying.

God, as God often does, decides to kick the back of my chair, or it could have been a student behind me. Either way, nostalgia set in and brought me back to a college classroom of my senior year. Dr. Brent Pelphrey was teaching on Salvific History and Tradition of The Christian Church. He displays a round gold medallion he wore around his neck. Inscribed are the words:
ICXC
NIKE
An inlined cross separates the four letters equally. The translation is simply IC (Jesus) XC (Christ) NIKE (Victor). He explains the roundness of the medallion represents the world or kosmon (in Greek "universe"). The inlined cross represents the cross of Christ. This medallion comes from John 16:33, which simply translates, "I have overcome or conquered the world or universe."

In short, we studied what it meant to be saved!

Later that Sunday evening I had a meeting at Fuddrucker's. I got my traditional order - buffalo burger cooked medium, onion rings and water with a lemon. I smother the burger with shredded iceberg lettuce, bread and butter pickles, jalapenos, mayo and honey mustard. The meeting wasn't really a meeting but an opportunity to see how one's soul is doing. On the way out the door a mother and her daughter stood at the gum ball machine. There were various options from hard candies, gums, bracelets, and temporary tattoos. The daughter asks her mom, "Which one?" The mom says, "This one," pointing to the hard candies. She hands her a quarter and states, "It's less evil."

I walked out the door sarcastically saying to myself, "I didn't know gum ball machines could be evil." As I drove home I thought about the words David shared earlier that day,
"On behalf of the whole church, I ask you:
Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness,
reject the evil powers of this world…"

For the first time the lessons of my college years traveled from my head to my heart. Though I said, "I do" in response to this question when I was a teenager. I finally experienced a freedom that can only be found in the salvation of Christ. Ain't no gum ball machine gonna keep me from praising the Lord! Amen. Amen.

Does this mean evil doesn't exist in the world?! Not at all. According to 1 John 5:19, evil surrounds us. Yet the same John writes 3 chapters earlier, "I write to you because you are strong and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one" (I John 2:14).

Salvation has come in Christ who comes not only to save me and you, but also gum ball machines, buffalo burgers, moons, stars, my 'ole fat dog, and the kosmon! Yes, I am free in a way words will never be able to manifest. No matter what evil may come against me or you it doesn't really matter. Because the Evil one has already lost. Like any sore loser, it's just hard to admit the score. You can find the scoreboard on the Cross of Christ, where victory was won.

What do you need to be saved from today? I know at times I get knotted up inside because of the things of this world. As King David says in the Psalm, "In my distress I call to the Lord and He saves me." Psalm 18:6 I am reminded that there is a place, a person we can turn to now, who can save us, free us from the things of this world. We are surrounded by a community of believers to help us with our junk. If we will just ask.

So, "on behalf of the whole church, I ask you:
Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness,
reject the evil powers of this world,
and repent of your sin?"

Jerk

2010-08-24T07:25:00.001-07:00

JERK

The restaurant was busy. The waitress was working table to table quickly but respectably giving each customer their due time. The line of customers was out the door. No matter how fast she worked their seem no end.

That's when that group of four walked in obnoxious acting as if they were the only ones who had to wait in line as if they were the only ones that mattered. Their conversation carried above everyone else and you can see the waitress eyeball each other begging they don't have to serve that group.

The energy of the group carried throughout their body language. They were loud. They complained to the hostess as she apologetically walked them to their table. One in the party sits, "finally!" The hostess apologizes about the wait again and an introduces the waitress - which none of them even paid attention to her name, as if it mattered.

She quickly took their drinks and handed them a menu. She attended to 3 other tables. Another employee dropped off chips and salsa. The waitress had to deliver a meal of five before being able to get the drinks to the initial party. One in the group commented, "I'm glad, someone's being attended too." Just earshot of the waitress. Intentionally, maybe? Probably.

She dropped off their drinks and politely asked, "are you ready to order or do you need a few more minutes." The group was unsure. She read their cue and said, "I'll give you a few minutes." She attended to her other 3 tables. That's when one from that group starts coughing obnoxiously, "Cough, cough, sure would be nice to get a refill." That person proceeds to suck the remaining water and air through their straw, loudly, repeatedly, obnoxiously.

Another waitress catches the cue and quickly refills all their drinks. The waitress eventually comes back. She jots down their order. As she walks away she says, "we'll have your order out as soon as possible." One in the party replies, "right," sarcastically.

The rest of the night went this way. The dinner was served. The party remained rude. She worked hard. They tipped very little.

I got home thinking about what had just transpired. Looked in the mirror and said, "jerk! Why did you let them treat her that way?!"

"If you say, `We don't know anything about this,'
God, who knows whats in your mind will notice.
He is watching you and he will know"
Proverbs 24:12

It Is Well With My Soul

2010-05-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

There is an elderly gentlemen I know who truly loves and cares for me. Because of our relationship and faith we discuss things that go deeper than your surface conversations. As he walks closer to the end of his life, he has become more bold and less cautious about his conversations. A few weeks ago he told me "I am concerned for your soul." This completely caught me off guard as you can imagine. He started talking to me about heaven and hell and how people get to one place or the other. Out of respect, I listened attentively. Now he know's my testimony and my work. His concerns lay in bible, doctrine, denomination and what I call "religious mechanics."

(Excuse this broad generalization)
The Bible - He grew up in a "God said, I believe, therefore it is" mentality. I look at the Bible historically first spiritually second. That's just the way I am programmed.
Doctrine - Though both of our backgrounds are rooted in Protestantism. His is more concerned for the local Church. My experience is within Catholicism and a great appreciation for the Eastern Orthodox Church. My doctrine is more mission oriented and out reaching.
Denomination - His denomination is primarily independent and part of the Restoration Movement. Our is set up closer to the Catholic Church - United under a local Bishop.
Religious Mechanics - This is where our biggest difference came into play. He was concerned that I was not immersed in my Baptism and therefore am not following the example of Christ. He is also concerned that I never made a public profession of faith as stated in Matthew 10. Finally, he is concerned that our form of Evangelism is more social versus personal.

Now I understand that we are almost 50 years different in age. The generation difference could account for the difference in our faith view. I don't want to paint a picture of me be right and him being wrong, which is easy to do with my ego. Rather, I want to talk about our two Churches.

Sunday, March 21, 2010. It snowed in Texas. Man, it's been a weird 2010. From what records show we had the lowest number of attendees in our Churches History roughly 513 for all four services, we average 12-1500 a Sunday. That same day my friend had 11 people show up for Church - they average 27 (every week). We carried on with Worship as normal, recognizing the snow and small numbers. His Church decided to post-pone Worship but rather get on the phone to call on people to make sure they were okay and picked up people who still waited to come to Church but were afraid to drive in the melting snow.

My friend goes and visits 4 people on a weekly basis - one in the V.A. hospital, one in a vacuum/T.V. store who hasn't accepted Christ yet, one in a retirement home and a lady he mows a yawn for that doesn't have the health to do it herself or the finances to pay someone else. My week looks something like this - 2-5 sporting venues a week, being in touch with multiple families, believing and unbelieving; a play or two a week, at least 2 - 4 meetings at the Church a week, dropping off/picking up someone or something at school at least 1 a week, dinner with a family at least 2 a week, multiple breakfast and lunch meetings with different individuals to talk about life and faith; consult with different students, parents, and other adults; attend events, banquets, special events, and other social events or fundraisers in our community. This doesn't include the average 500+ text messages or emails I receive a day, my regular responsibilities at the office or Facebook.

When my friend told me he's concerned for my soul he was being genuine. The fact is he really cares for me. That brings me to the point of todays ramblings. I once told a Sunday School teacher, "students don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." The connection my old friend has to the people in his congregation made me really look at the landscape of my own Ministry with a big question mark. How well are we doing in the realm of "caring for our people?" Would we ever postpone worship just call on people to see how they are doing? With the hundreds of people I come in contact with, I can count about a dozen or so a week that I know the inner workings of their heart and soul. Then I started thinking about my old friend and realized we need more Christian's like him. Though we differ on our views on The Bible, Doctrine, Denomination and Religious Mechanics, we both agree that Christ taught us to love God and love others.

Are things well with your soul? Are you involved in a Church that is reaching out to you in care of your soul? More importantly are you involved in a Church that is giving you practical and real means to reach out to others in care of their soul? Because in the end I truly don't think Jesus is going to care if we were serious enough in our Bible readings, the Doctrine of our Denomination, our other Religious Mechanics. I think Jesus is going to take seriously how well we take care of those He created and His creation (including yourself).

So sit with a pin and paper, Blackberry, I-Phone, I-Pad or whatever device you use to keep personal notes and ask these questions?
1). Who is spiritually holding me accountable?
2). Who am I spiritually accountable for?
3). How did that relationship form? How might you invite others into a relationship of accountability?
4). What specific tools is my Church giving me to care for others in the long term? If nothing, what are you going to do about it?

"And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul."

Theology of Dirt

2010-04-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

Romans 3:23 has always bothered me. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." When you look at the innocence of a baby how can you call that cute bundle of joy a "sinner." Well hopefully your first words would be more like "gaa-gaa-goo-goo" instead of "sinner." Yet I always recall the story of my mom telling me how my older brother when we were babies finished suckling his baby bottle. I obviously didn't suck as much as he did back then. He took his empty bottle, bashed me over the head and took mine. During the joy of the Christmas Season we also have seen the wonderful encounter at the toy store where the baby is screaming, "MINE" as if the end of the world would come if they did not possess wanted toy. Okay, maybe we all were born "sinners."

So driving around with the top down, sun beating on top of my head, and listening to David Crowder. I found moments to worship the God who created the sun beating on my head, the God who controls the wind, the God who created the once brown earth now turning green, yellow and blue (I actually saw my first blue bonnet), the God who created the dirt. I considered how all these things work in harmony an perfectly together. I considered how all these things are truly perfect in an of themselves and lack that sin nature we as human beings are riddled with in our free choice.

Yet the riddle is solved this side of the cross. In my human nature I have to know how things work. Yet this riddle is not so obvious. God sent His Son (Himself) to hang out with us dirty human beings to show us a new way. We still couldn't figure out the riddle. So He decided to take the puzzle throw it up in the air and put himself on the cross and say, "It is finished!" Do what?! What's finished?! Wait, what…

Pastor David preached Christos Victor on Easter Sunday. Simply Christ is the victor, which by the way is taken out of John 16:33. For Orthodox Christians the symbol

IC XC
NI KE

IC - Jesus
XC - Christ
NIKE - Victor.
If you look carefully between the letters you can see a cross. Finally the symbol is often embedded in a round symbol, such as a medallion, representing the world. There you go Jesus Christ is the Victor of the world and dirt and me and you.

Yet, in our human nature we often gravitate towards the negative (at least I often do) and maybe miss the point of Paul's writing. Romans 3:23 reads, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." It is easy to focus on "sin" and "fall short." Yet, I was enlightened (thanks be to God) that maybe Paul was trying to teach us, "we were intended for God's Glory." Do what?! Wait, what….

So I continue to drive the sun beating on my head, experience the wind in my face, see the once brown earth now turning green, yellow and blue, and the dirt. I considered how all these things work in harmony an perfectly together. That's when it dawns on me that God wants me (us) to be in complete harmony with Him, "Glory, Glory Hallelujah."

The mechanics of how Salvation works still plague me but for now. I will bask in the Glory of God's victory over my heart and the world. I guess that's the kicker. God has already won. Yet, we often will continue to fight Him. Maybe this is why God asks us to surrender not just 10% but our entire being. This is the sweet spot where being in harmony in God just makes so much sense. Today, I surrender my will so that "your kingdom come, your will be done. Glory, Glory, Halleljuah!"

Touching The Son

2010-03-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the sun setting seems so bright and full that you can reach your hand out and touch it. Driving west on El Dorado last night the sun was setting, the song was blaring and the windows were down. Yes, I reached out my window and acted like I could touch it. I am sure those driving by where wondering what in the world I was pointing at. Some might consider me crazy and yea, I am (not clinically labeled - yet).

It was a long day that started at 5:45 a.m. and ended just around 7:00 p.m. On the agenda:
6:00 Devotional
7:30 Prep for Mid High Mission Meeting
8:30 Mid High Mission Meeting
9:30 Practice with The Bridge
10:30 The Bridge
12:00 Relay For Life Team Meeting / Mission Meeting (I thought)
1:30 Decorate for Journey to the Cross
3:30 Prep for Journey to the Cross
4:00 Journey to the Cross
6:00 Clean Up Journey to the Cross
7:00 Home

This doesn't include all the other small things that come up on a busy Sunday at the Church but a reference point to look back at my day. That's exactly what I was doing when the sun started setting and my finger reached out the window. I was spent physically and spiritually. For my physical craving a nice Chipotle bowl, double order of rice (hay I'm asian), black beans, onions and peppers, carnets (that's pork for those of you who don't speak Chipotle or Spanish. Which by the way is field grown and not raised on hormones, injected with steroids nor washed in ammonia), spicy sauce, extra corn, touch of sour cream and lettuce. Man, I'm hungry again but that's besides the point. For my spiritual need, I cried out to God, over my blaring radio. I mean I really needed a moment with Him. I have been moving all day in the business of "serving Him" but never took a moment to consider His love and grace for me on this Holiest of Palm Sundays - where God seemed to be on vacation in my heart.

That's when God in His Godness does His God thing. Right there on El Dorado Parkway just past Ridge Road I touched the Sun and the Son touched me. It was only a moment of surrender where I was taken back to the purity and innocence of child-like faith. Where God pierced through my so called busy schedule and said, "You think you had a busy day?!" I had to laugh at my constant ego where I think my schedule proves my humanity or at least justifies my job. I was reminded as the wind passed through my hands that God created this planet, this air, this sun, this sky, and everything else in creation that is pure and innocent.

My schedule quickly got washed away at the thought of how God keeps the Universe together and I am allowed to spin on this small ball of a planet. If I was a crying person I might have shed a tear. If I was a real photographer I would have stopped and taken a picture, if I was an artist I would probably paint that moment. But I'm none of these. What I am is a servant of God and this busy day has come to a close.

We are entering the Holiest week of the year. How are you going to allow God to speak to you, move through you and melt your heart like He did mine? I'm off to a good week, so far. Maybe your Holiest of moments won't be at Church but in your car, with a child or under a bright moon. But I promise you this...the Services we have set are opportunities for you to touch the Son so that Son can touch you and you can touch others with the love of the Son.

"Come, Now is the time to Worship." Here are the services we have available at our Church this week. Bring a friend with you along The Journey.

Thursday, April 1st - Maunday Thursday; 7:30 p.m.; Robertson Activity Center
Friday, April 2nd - Good Friday; 7:30 p.m.; Celebration Hall
Sunday, April 4th - Easter; 8:15, 9:30, & 10:45 a.m. in Celebration Hall; 9:30 & 10:45 a.m. in The Bridge

Failure Is Not An Option (Though it should be…)

2010-02-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

Christianity has sometimes been called a "faith journey." In my years as a Boy Scout, you "prepare for the unexpected"; meaning something unexpected will inevitably happen. Watch any Survivor episode and you quickly learn "whit and will" can help you survive one more day. As a faith journey, we go with God and that is pretty much it. When Jesus sent out His first disciples He told them, "Find a friend and go. It's going to be dangerous. Don't bring anything with you, knock on someones door and ask them if you can hang out, if they turn you away, go to the next house. Teach all you come in contact with, "The kingdom of God has come near" (Luke 10). Even in Jesus' day, this was a dangerous "mission trip." In today's world filled with medical release forms, forms to "hold harmless" and release waivers, Jesus would not have had a job as a Mission Director in most Churches.

This past Christmas break, I saw many of my former students who were home from college. They shared with me their journey. I've always held an open relationship with my students and they tell me just about everything leaving no details untold. For many of them, they are experiencing their first real life trial and real life failures. In most cases, their parents don't even know and won't for another few years, if ever. Some made, what they believed to be, the right decision through their failures. Others failed miserably and are still having to live with the consequences of their actions.

In my 19 years of ministry, I had many phone calls from parents struggling with a child who constantly makes bad decisions. No parent wants to see their child suffer. No child purposely makes bad decisions. It's their nature to journey and discover life. In the midst of teenage life journey bad decisions will be made. Some out of rebellion and some out of curiosity. Trust me I grew up in a family where my two oldest brothers constantly made poor decisions, so much so they were both kicked out of the house and joined the military.

Lately I have experienced a whole new wave of what is often called helicopter parents. If you automatically said, "I'm not one of those" my best guess is you are! Wickepdia defines Helicopter parenting as "a colloquial, early 21st-century term for a parent who pays extremely close attention to his or her child's or children's experiences and problems, particularly at educational institutions." Just last week I was on the phone with a friend who I was in the youth group with. She now has a 14 year old daughter. That should raise enough concerns in and of itself. Her daughter is constantly making poor relationship and social decisions. Most recently she got herself into a legal situation. Since we have a long term relationship, I allow myself to be blunt and matter of fact. When she asked me what is wrong with her, my instant reply was, "you." The rest of the conversation went something like this: "You know way too much about her personal relationships. You gossip to other moms way too much about her social life and finally you don't let her fail." Her daughter's action could have landed her three times in juvenile detention but instead of letting her sit in juvie (which would have been the right message) she bailed her out everytime. Leaving her now with the message, "I can do anything and my mom and dad will bail me out." I was actually bored with the conversation. She asked if I would have let my child sit in jail, my response was "Yes, I would have made them pay for the fine, make them pay for the court charges, and I may even make them pay for my loss of time at work." Her response was, "You don't have kids." Yes, I do not have any biological kids of my own. But I can can tell you after watching 19 years of parents bailing out their child, it has never benefited the child-what-so-ever!

We all make mistakes. As an adult consider the biggest failures in your life. Consider the consequences to your action. Consider the lesson you learned from that action. When you short cut the process for your child you short cut them from learning one of life's biggest lesson: The ability to make a decision and weigh out all the consequences to their action. Is it painful to watch your child fail? Yes. Does it even verge on the lines of danger? Yes. But Jesus in Matthew 5:37 says, "Say only yes if you mean yes, and no if you mean no. If you say more than yes or no, it is from the Evil One." Maybe its only me but there seems to be many in our current generation of students who lack the ability to make a decision. Do not shortcut this process for your kid. Don't make the decision for them. Let them struggle. If they don't have an answer it's because they truly don't have an answer nor have the weighed out the benefit or consequences of that decision.

As Christian parents, we have a mandate to raise up our child for God (Proverbs 1-3). One of the most important tools we can give them is the ability to wisely navigate the decision making process. Don't do it for them. More importantly when they make a bad decision don't bail them out of it. Then our child has the ability to let their "yes" mean "yes" and their "no" mean "no." They have the ability to listen to God in their own and say "Yes" to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords in their own time.

We often think that "failure is not an option." For flight director Gene Krantz it wasn't as he was determined to save the life of 3 Astronauts in Apollo 13. For our kids, failure is one of the best options in giving them tools to make decisions for their future.

Intentionality

2010-02-01T10:06:00.001-08:00

As I write this I have 8 programs open on my Macbook Pro, my journal open next to me, my phone laying in my lap, and a portable hard drive transferring video data from one driver to another. Behind me a class is watching a DVD lesson on Revelation. Both Sharon's and my phone have beeped in four or five times before 10:30 and I have received 37 text messages or emails since midnight. I am screening a DVD for a Sunday School lesson, watching a Coyotes vs. Islanders hockey game on Hulu, playing David Crowder on my Itunes, editing one photo at a time as it uploads into my Iphoto then to Facebook. In my Safari Internet Browser I have a tab for my email, a Youth Forum, Facebook, and YouTube open. I close all my programs walk away to a quiet room and write.

I went to a Conference this past fall where a Pastor in Georgia argued, "There is no such thing as multi-tasking." He states everyone on this planet shares the same 24 hours. He goes further to say the multi-tasking philosophy teaches we can do more with the same 24 hours because we think we can. What is worse is that we've fallen into the belief that by "doing more" we are actually "more valid" to our jobs, culture, society or Church. In the end, we've lost our ability to focus and be intentional. As with most things we can agree or disagree but I understand the Pastor's point. The end of his sermon became rather evident. It is difficult for us to focus on God because we believe we can multi-task God into our schedule when in reality we never spend any quality time with him at all.

Last week I left a Facebook post that stated, "Pondering what I should give up for lent." Most of the replies were funny. Someone told me to give up my hair, one suggested giving up my loud music, and a staff member told me to give up staff meetings. I actually kinda liked that last suggestion! Between that post a new something happened to me at a grocery store that has left me spiritually full. It started off with me just rushing in to grab a quick lunch. I accidentally left my phone in the car. I walked to the counter. The guy basically knows my order. I always add a vegetable or two to my pasta. Then next to me stood a perspective Church member who knew me and it was obvious I didn't know him. We shook hands and started small talk. He told me they stopped going to our Church. I asked them about that. The next thing I knew we stood there talking about life, God, Church, relationships, Haiti and whatever else for the next 40 something minutes as the food grew cold in our hands. I walked away from that conversation with a different beat to my soul. This person is now involved with another congregation where they are serving and happy. As I slammed the door of my suburban and saw the red light on my phone blinking, it dawned on me this is the first time I've spent completely invested in one person for over 10 minutes without interruption in a long time. It was incredible.

I never enter the Holy Season of Lent and Easter lightly. Socially, we're taught to give up something you like for 40 days. What we miss in this social gospel is that we give up something in order to understand our sinful nature of want and desire. The goal of Lent is that we reposition our carnal nature over to our spiritual nature to want and desire God alone. Our congregation being United Methodist has taken this to another level of giving up something in order to have more time for something else, hopefully something more spiritual such as prayer, bible study, outreach, or mission. It amazes me how much is based on this thing called time. God doesn't want our time, He wants me and you.

So we are 16 days away from Lent (Lent begins Wednesday, February 17th). I continue to ponder how I can become more intentional in the now time. I want to apologize to all of you for not being intentional in the first place. I have often told you to "hold, I need to get this phone call." Basically telling you the person on the other end of the line is more important. I have replied to emails and text messages as you've tried to relay a story or something you've experienced. Meaning, what you are saying is interesting but I can multi-task and reply to these messages because it's socially acceptable. I have played hours of video games during meetings because its acceptable to make it look like I am working and taking messages when in actuality I'm playing on line. I am sorry. I am sure you can add your litany of examples of my wrong doing towards you.

I don't know exactly what I am giving up for Lent this year, but I know what I am taking on: Intentionality. I think the most important thing I can do is be God's example for you in the present and in the presence and not shrug you off acting like other things are more important. You are the most important valuable possession God has, maybe the least I can do is spend time with you.

I invite you to this years journey of Lent. What changes need to be made in your life so you can be God's present and presence? There is a joy to this journey that is so absolutely simple. How did we miss this? Peace and Grace to you. Most of all hold me accountable.

By the time I finished this blog 3 phone calls came in, 3 text messages and 4 emails. I didn't answer any of them.

Offering - Reflections on Owl City

2009-11-30T09:51:00.001-08:00

Offering

A few weeks ago, a concerned parent of an elementary age student asked me if the band, Owl City, was a Christian band. I play them regularly while at the office. "I don't know," was my first response. I guess I shouldn't tell them I play Goo Goo Dolls, James Taylor, Arlo Guthrie, George Straight, Angels and Airwaves, Linkin Park and a host of other bands not in the Christian genre or produced by Christian labels. I've had this conversation before. It's usually from parents who are genuinely concerned about lyrics, messages and influences. Oh! wait. Does music influence our behavior and actions?! I don't know but it sure does get my toes-a-tapping, lift my spirits at times, and I may scream lyrics when my radios loud enough.

I've never been a fan of the so called, "Christian Music Scene." I am cautious of anything overtly "Christian Labeled." The first time I heard of the band, Jars of Clay, they were playing in a club called NRG in downtown Houston. This club was known for it's alcohol, drug abuse, girls and guys that would give themselves away for drugs, corners where people secretly had sex, etc. Jars of Clay was not an overtly Christian band back then but 3/4 of the way through the concert the lead singer spoke of his faith and salvation in Christ.

Last year the David Crowder Band took a lot of heat after deciding to go to clubs where wholesome Christians don't frequent. A few years ago, Third Day took heat from fellow believers because they decided to let Chevy sponsor their concert tour because Chevy was obviously not a Christian label!? The band Flyleaf was looked down upon by some in the Christian nation because they toured with Breaking Benjamin, Stained and 3 Doors Down.

When Stonebridge U.M.C. was being developed Don Smith, the founding Pastor of the Church, knew that good music was essential to the character of Worship in the design of the Celebration Service. That tradition has continued with The Bridge Band and will continue with any future Worship Service we may have in the doors of this Church.

But that's not what I want to talk about today. The question I've been wrestling with of lately is, "What is the measurement by which one lives their life?" Meaning, at the end of my life looking back on the person of Ed Whipple, will I be able to say "I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7). I love my mentor. He keeps me in constant check. After 15 minutes of conversation on the phone he can read my heart and soul condition even though he's half a world away. He can convict me to faith action faster then anyone else I know. What is your standard of measurement? I am convinced our society has become so "I-Everything" that we've isolated ourselves behind cell phones and keyboards (mobile/portable and for you oldies desk tops).

Without my mentors, a community of faith, and friends to keep me in check I would not be doing what I am blessed to do today. My atheist friend told me once, "I get paid to keep the faith." In one aspect he is correct but I don't keep my faith for the money. I say I am blessed because I am constantly surrounded by Christianization but what about you? My heart breaks for many of you seeking authentic friends and faith community but just can't seem to find it anywhere. We Church staff often lay the responsibility on you to find the right Church, be willing to go to a class on our own, hope someone talks to you or your family, and all the other anxieties that go into being in a new place with new people. I also know many of you have just given up on Church people because we just don't have time for you.

This now brings me back to Owl City. Last Spring my student handed me a C.D. and told me to listen to it. He ran into this guy online sampling different musical sounds. So I listened to it and kept listening to it over and over from cover to cover. I don't know if it was Christian but I knew it was good, it was real good. In my opinion the guy was a musical genius of sorts. The music was feel good, uplifting, creative, different. The voice was pure, clear (I thought a little dorky at first) but enjoyed the ambience. Most of all the lyrics were creative and witty. Not once from April-November did I ever find myself asking, "Is this guy Christian?" I didn't care. I knew good music when I heard it and this was good music. After the question was asked I was torn. Good music is good music. One being a Christian can't guarantee one will produce good music. Trust me I've heard enough youth praise bands.

After further research I found out Adam, the lead singer of Owl City, is devoutly Christian. In his biography he states, "I follow Jesus Christ Wholeheartedly. He is my life, my strength, my all." His devotion to Christ comes first. His ability to produce good music is not the result of his faith. His faith is carried through his work.

This brings me back to you. Has anyone ever had a conversation about you? Do people look at your life and question, "Is he/she a Christian?" Does the result of your work make people question, "Where does he/she get it from?" or "What's different about that person that makes them so devoted to what they are doing?" Some of you our blatant about your faith. Most of us are not, like Adam, we go about living our life in devotion to Christ first, then everything comes second.

As much as I speak to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, my heart aches for those who are still seeking, who don't have friends or a community of faith to hang out with or turn to in times of need. Maybe during this Christmas Season (and maybe throughout our daily lives) we pray for "eyes to see and ears to hear" for those looking to belong. Maybe during this season we fast (give up) a part of our weekly routine to offer our lives for those who are searching. Maybe the best thing some of us can do is give up Church one Sunday and hang out at Starbucks and observe all the people sitting by themselves and offer them your life first, then Church second. Maybe that's the real solution, stop inviting people to Church and invite them into your own life first then Church. Yes, I just challenged you to do that.

From the lyrics of Owl City, "I was given grace and love, I was blind but now I can see, cause I found a new hope from above, and courage swept over me." Many of us have been able to experience this grace. We are now challenged to offer our lives so that others can experience the same grace. God may use you and you might be the best Christmas present for someone this year. Will you live your life as an offering?

3 Years Later - Rita Recovery Mission Trip Fall 2006

2009-11-17T09:03:00.001-08:00

"What are you doing this weekend?"
"Changing the world!"
"Do what?"
"Yep."
"Do you mind explaining?"
"We're re-roofing a house for an elderly person."
"Why didn't you just say that."
"Because its more than that."
"No its not. If you have the cash, you can pay for anyone to reroof your house. But this family doesn't have the money and we're doing it out of compassion."
"There are a ton of compassion groups who would be willing to reroof a house?"
"True, but we do it out of thanks?"
"Do what?"
"We are thankful for what we have and we are sharing that `thankfulness'."
"So are you saying you are doing it out of guilt because of your abundance."
"Oh! No! Not at all!"
"Then explain."
"We are thankful for the incredible life God has given us and..."
"There are thousands of people who have great lives who don't care for religion."
"True, but I personally don't care for religion either."
"Do what?!"
"Religion is just a frame in which individuals form their belief."
"So are you saying religions are illegitimate?"
"No, not at all. We must have a frame in which to be introduced to that particular faith."
"Wait what does this have to do with putting a roof on a house?"
"Nothing, except that it allows us to thank God for the incredible life we already have."
"You already said that."
"Indeed, but the point is that one can help out of pure need, one can help because of guilt, one can help because they're bored. But we help out of thankfulness."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"You're right. So what are you doing this weekend?"
"Nothing!"
"Wanna come and help put a roof on a house?"

Car Keys

2009-10-14T10:03:00.000-07:00

I didn't get my drivers license until 6 months after I turned 16. Like any teenage boy I was itching to get behind the steering wheel but as most teenagers my parents put the responsibility in my lap and I procrastinated. I got around to scheduling and eventually taking the driving test which I failed epically. The Texas State Trooper greeted me with the expected stoic State Trooper voice. He shook my hands and I was shaking in my boots. He did a walk around the car to check all the lights and other legal stuff. Through the entire time I was honking my horn, flipping the lights, clicking the turn signals and stomping on the break the only thought going through my teenage brain is, "How is that big guy in the 10 gallon hat gonna fit in a 1972 Honda Civic?" The State Trooper asked me to turn on my car and back up. I was confident and went through all the checks I was told by my drivers ed. teacher and my nagging mom. Seatbelt - check, purposely adjust mirrors - check, ask Officer to snap his seat belt - check, look purposely all around me for any living creatures - check. I turned on the ignition, stomped on the clutch, dropped it into gear, looked behind me, accelerated and went forward right into the bumper of State Trooper's car. "Son, please turn the car off!" He stepped out of the car. I got out of the car. "You've just failed the driving portion of your test. Please reschedule when you are ready." I know I shouldn't have but I laughed. Then my crazy Asian mother comes out of the building but that's another story.

I finally got my drivers license three weeks later. Thanks to siblings, jobs, car issues, etc… I never got to drive until the end of football season, November. That Friday night I was going to pick up my friend Paul and we were going to go to the mall, pick up some chicks, and then head to the movies. We did all that, minus picking up the chicks part. We were both afraid to talk to that other species. I slowly backed out of the drive way, kept within speed limit throughout my neighborhood then came to my first lighted intersection. To my teenage brain, I was automatically on a drag strip. There I was with my beat up 72 Honda Civic and a kid I knew at school rolled up in his 84 beat up mustang. We both revved our engines, smiled, rolled our cars back and forth, we watched the light sequence and as soon as it greened both of us mashed on the gas, I wanna believe I peeled out and left a 100 yard drag mark but I was in a civic. I slammed my clutch dropped it into second, then third gear, he was slowly gaining distance on me, just before I was about to push it into fourth gear; we see police lights ahead of us coming the opposite direction. We both slammed on the breaks and did the instantaneous turn around look to see if the police person wheeled around. He didn't, we both smiled.

My first accident, not including the one where I decided to rear end a DPS State Troopers car, happened just outside the school parking lot - predictably. I was minding my own business at a red light. When all of the sudden I heard the squeal of tires, I looked into my rearview mirror just in time to see a girl come careening into the back of my Civic. This was the first time I actually traded numbers with one of those species from the opposite sex. Come to find out she actually went to my Church but never went. We went to the next Winter formal together. I was rear ended two more times form people I didn't know, nor date. I was side swiped once and T-barred once.

We went to street parties back then just like they did when cars were first designed by Ford, just like the parties in the 50, 60, 70's and the ones that go on at the end of new neighborhoods where kids don't think cops will show up. There was smoking, drinking, drugs, and a few having sex. My friend Anthony really got into the drug world and that very night I inadvertently became a drug runner and didn't put one and one together until half way through the night. Anthony had been carrying LSD or "Cid" as we used to call it back then and selling it to people at that party. I knew he was a user but didn't know he sold, time for new friends.

I used to lie to my parents. I was giving driving regulations and distances that I often pushed or broke. We skipped school often. With the beach only so many miles away how could you walk into an institution of higher learning when it was a day so obviously meant to be spent in the sun? I don't know how I never got busted from my parents? I knew they wouldn't kill me. The worse they could do is ship me off to the military like they did my two older brothers but I learned from their mistakes and avoided drugs, alcohol and that attitude teenage boys get towards their parents.

In the past few weeks we have celebrated many 16 year old's getting their Texas Drivers License. There are new means to get drivers licenses. There are higher regulations. There are even new laws to keep our students in check and others on the road safer. All of these new rules and regulations are great but one thing that we must all take into mind is that an adolescent brain is still that of an adolescent brain. The laws may persuade some students to turn their cell phone off while driving but obviously not 3 students who I rode with last week. No, I'm not giving their names up. Yes, I told them that was illegal. An adolescent brain lives in one place and that is "right here right now!" You wonder why you ask what seems to be an intelligible question such as, "Why didn't you turn your homework in? You did the work!" That would require a brain to actually hear the teacher say, "Turn your homework in" when the adolescent brain is probably focused on the opposite sex at that moment - a now moment.

The drive of an adolescent brain is so temporary and present that anything of the past or future is of no consequence and we're giving these students a 2000 lb. machine (except if you own a smart car) with a license to drive? Yes, we are!

So what's the lesson in all this? Two fold: A). Remember your teenage days behind the steering wheel. I am positive you did some equally stupid things living in the "now" adolescent brain moment, that you with a conscious brain would have never done. B). Letting go is one of the hardest parenting decision to make. The second you give your child those keys with the permission to "go" you suddenly become very aware that the world that you thought you once controlled, is little controlled by you. The biggest act of faith is in what Kirkegaard called the theleological leap. That is simply surrendering your will completely to God. I often feel parents handing their child the keys that first time will experience that leap.

Maybe this is the biggest lesson we all need to learn…
"We are not alone, we live in God's world.
We believe in God: who has crated and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the church: To celebrate God's presence, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life behind death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. Amen!"

It's time to let go of the keys and surrender our will to God. Thank God I am not in control. Thank God!

I Miss You

2009-10-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Stop whatever you are doing right now. Consider a friend or face of someone on your cell phone that you haven't seen in Church, Worship, Small Group, Bible Study, Church Recreation Team, Church Fellowship etc… Call, don't text, that person and send them this message, "I miss you." Not, "We missed you at Church, Worship, Small Group, etc… Simply, "I miss you."

I've been reading a great book by Julia Duin titled "Quitting Church: Why the Faithful Are Fleeing and What to Do about it." A most insightful paragraph reads this, "One of the top reasons people give for their leaving church is loneliness: the feeling - especially in large congregations that no one knows or cares whether they are there." (Duin, p. 50).

Loneliness sucks! I was reminded of this horrible experience at a National Youth Workers Conference I attended in L.A. last week. It was an exercise to show how those who have no connections have little reason to return to Worship. You can have the best worship band, the best speaking Pastor, the best lighting system, and the best Worship experience that connects individuals to God Himself. But if that person is not connected to another flesh and blood person the experience fades; the service is sparkle and glitter with no "life transforming" accountability or transformation.

Some of who are embedded into the life of the Church, including myself, have their counsel of friends who you can turn to at a moment's notice. We become "comfortable" in our own inner circle completely forgetting what its like to be lonely.

When challenged I have a handful of students and adults who are absolutely phenomenal at reaching out to those who look lost and lonely. I personally feel this is a gift from God to have the eyes and to reach out to those lost individuals. I now have a new outlook on life after last weeks experience. Every person who steps into the doors of a Church is seeking something. In my heart of hearts, I know what they are seeking is the love of Jesus. God uses us - God willing - to communicate that love. But I reflect on my actions and attitudes yesterday during Church and I will confess, much of what I did and said communicated very little of Christ love versus my Sunday routine. My Sunday routines must be broken, I confess, maybe we all need to get in alignment with God instead of sitting comfortably in our chairs.

Real ministry happens after the Church door is closed. Worship is a huge act of celebration, thanksgiving and offering to God for the incredible week we had behind us and the week we have before us. True ministry happens in the real world. So again I challenge you now to consider those who you haven't seen in your faith community and call them. Call them for the sake of missing them. The back door of every Church swings wide. Christ calls us to accountability with Him and with one another. It is my conviction that if we begin to hold one another accountable because of our love for one another, that back door will slowly start to close. I don't know about you but I wan't that door slammed shut!

God's G.P.S.

2009-09-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Had a District Youth Council Meeting last week in Sherman. Since I had no idea where Grace UMC (Don Smith's former stomping ground) was located I plugged in the address to my much hated Blackberry Bold and Google mapped it. Ahhh, GPS - Yes!

To my surprise, google map didn't direct me east on 380, then north on 75 after plugging in the address. Google map offered an alternative, a back road. So at that moment waiting at a red light on Custer and 380 I had an option, the safe route or the unknown? Why not?!

I rolled down my windows, turned up Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and kept my phone in my lap. Yes, just like many of you, I've read the warning from google map one should not drive and use this application at the same time. When you are headed for the unknown you go prepared as possible.

The journey took me on roads that had no name but numbers. I traveled 3 non-paved roads, which I will confess I had a bit too much fun on. I saw country side I had no idea existed this close to the metroplex. There was a baby cow that got through a fence I had to negotiate my way around or figure out how to get in the back of my truck. (Just kidding! Stealing is a sin but that fresh steak tempted my never ending taste buds). I went through towns I didn't know existed. I wondered up and down hills. I passed a town I couldn't pronounce with a population of 109. When I thought I reached a point of civilization, I was then commanded by google maps to go down a dirt road. Okay! There was an Old Methodist Church that must have been built at the turn of the 20th Century. I imagined farmers, cowboys, and towns people working together to erect this Church. I whined down even narrower roads to an old wooden bridge. I questioned it's stability and envisioned horse drawn carriages traveling this same spot 150 years ago. Google map promised me that taking this journey would take 52 minutes. I got there in 55 minutes.

Every day I wake up, I am often surprised. I find myself musing, "I get another chance, another day to do it God's way? Thanks God! Use me!" It's not that I am fatalistic, or think my death is at any moment but just the mere thought God allows me another dusk 'til dawn to serve, to include me in His will, to be part of HIs divine plan is crippling to my soul and humbling.

I used to always take the known safe route in ministry - Purpose Driven, Mission State Driven, Student Driven, Family Driven, etc... If there is a model, I know it and have taken bits and pieces of it and applied what I believe is good to our program. Then I stopped looking at other programs and asked God, "What do you want?" This isn't a safe thing to do. Turn a program over to God for His use and His purpose. All the sudden everything you knew and believed about Ministry is thrown out the door. I started reading the Bible more and Program ministry books less. God use me! The known and safe route was no longer an option.

Looking back at the last year of our Student MInistry Program we've rounded a curve that no longer takes us east on 380 and north on 75. We are learning to trust in God more and not set meeting time, calendar dates, or mission trips. We're meandering together to do this thing called faith. We are taking dirt roads, wondering hills, discovering a God that isn't so obvious but is showing us His way. In the last year, we've had more teenagers share their testimony of how God is directly impacting their daily lives. There are 4 students who are currently considering a career as a Pastor, Missionary, or other roles in the Church. Doors are opening for our Students to do International Missions. Non-Church students are being Baptized and joining the Church and their families are beginning to follow suite and so on, and so on.

Paul wrote to the Philippians from jail, "3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:3-6) [Emphasis is mine]. It all comes down to verse 1:5 for me. Students are now participating in their faith. I'm not talking about coming on Sunday and Wednesday or Bible Studies. I'm talking about knowingly partnering with God on a daily basis, believing in faith, that he will "use them" to impact this world through the love of Christ.

Are you in partnership with God? Do you have the faith to believe that He can and will use you or is the verse, "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" a happy Christian phrase? I can't promise the journey will always be direct or safe but it will be of God. If anything it’s probably the most dangerous decision you will ever make. What does your faith life look like? Are you consuming your faith on Sunday Morning or are you partnering with fellow believers to complete the work of God? Make the decision today to journey with God. The most difficult road is often the 6 inches from your brain to your heart. Giving your heart over to Jesus Christ is dangerous. You may find yourself driving down roads you would never journey. So if you've felt a tug in your heart to ______________ (you fill in the blank) that is the working of the Holy Spirit within you, now do something about it...

I'm headed out the door. I don't know who I am going to come in contact with or what exactly God wants me to say at that moment. I pause in fear and tremble, willing to believe that God will use me if He sees fit and that "he who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Isn't this day for Christ Jesus? Amen and Amen!

PERSPIRATION AND INSPIRATION

2009-07-27T08:06:00.001-07:00

I get phone calls occasionally from companies wanting a reference for a student they are looking to hire. On my most recent phone call the gentlemen on the other end of line asked, "On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest, how would you rate this student’s work ethic?" Having never worked side by side with the student before I honestly couldn't answer the question. So I replied, "It depends on the leadership training him." The gentlemen on the other end of line then said, "Well what number would you give him?" I thought and then replied, "Will you be the person doing the training?" He said, "Yes, I will be one of the training managers." I replied,”How do you rate yourself in being able to train or direct people towards their responsibilities?" He replied quickly, "Excellently." Well then under your guidance I would give this student a ten." I love making people think!

Our Student Ministry Program is busily preparing for our last mission trip of the summer and boy is it going to be a doozy. We've got more work before us then we've ever had in years past. Most likely we will be making return trips to East Texas throughout the school year to work on some of these projects and will most likely, if the Church is willing, go back to Grand Saline next summer to continue these projects.

Students love the blood, sweat, and feeling of accomplishment after a hard day's work. So do I. There is nothing better then working so hard that your body reaches a point of exhaustion and you literally pass out the second your head hits the pillow. Then after a hard night of sleep you go at it again. Some of my greatest epiphanies have come after days of toiling in the field to reach a moment of clarity.

I am reminded of the story where someone was inquiring about following Jesus. He said, "Foxes have holes, birds have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay His head."

Jesus worked sun up to sun down literally. I am reminded of a gentlemen in Mexico I had a conversation with a few years ago. We as Americans love to define ourselves by what we do. So in my typical American fashion I ask, "What do you do?" There was an awkward pause. Then he said, "I help people." I let the conversation go only to find out later in the week, he's a mechanic, a doctor, runs a mission camp, is trying to build a school, helps widows by providing them jobs, and is called Pastor by many in his community. Most of all he prides himself as being a husband and father. This man worked more hours than Jesus, it seemed. Yet, he always had a constant calm and peace about him that seemed, well... out of this world.

Then I consider my life schedule. I consider the so called "busy" lives we live. What are we doing? Really? When people ask me what do I do, I want to be able to answer them like my friend in Mexico, "I help people" and have the evidence to prove that lifestyle. I know at the core my friend in Mexico understands why foxes have holes, birds have nests but the Son of man have nowhere to lay His head. I was fortunate to be trained by my friend in Mexico that helping people for the Kingdom of God is hard, extremely hard work.

So my question goes back to you and the gentlemen who called last week wanting a job reference, ""How do you rate yourself in being able to train or direct people towards their responsibilities?" As people in God's Kingdom, here and now, we have the responsibility to train and direct our next generation (your children) about God's love. How do you rate yourself in living up to that responsibility?

Christian? Not Me! (Part 1)

2009-04-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

Gandhi is quoted for saying ""I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians."

Got off the phone with a student last night who has been wrestling with their faith. He’s tired of Y.L. and all the hypocrisy he sees. He attended one F.C.A. meeting and he couldn't get it out of his head that one of the leaders was the same person who bullied him and cussed him out last week. He's been attending our Youth Program off and on and tells me no one in this Youth Group talks to him at school. He reads his bible regularly, prays, goes to Church, and has tried various Christian clubs and organizations. He is struggling to fit in and be accepted. Most of all he was questioning what it means to be a Christian. It was at that point I told him, "Well I don't like Christians either."

He was really caught off guard. "What do you mean?," he asked. I told him of the famous Gandhi quote. I told him of my Pastor a few Churches back who on Easter Sunday made the entire Church staff wear a t-shirt that read, "Jesus died on the cross and all I got was this shirt." We talked for a long time then texted late into the night about the American Brand of Christianity and Christ of Christianity.

I gave him verses to look up:

People will insult you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things about you because you follow me. But when they do, you will be happy. Matthew 5:11

or

Then a teacher of the law came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, I will follow you any place you go." Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes to live in, and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest his head." Matthew 8:19-20

or

Another man, one of Jesus' followers, said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the people who are dead bury their own dead." Matthew 8:21-22

or

All people will hate you because you follow me, but those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved. Matthew 10:22

or

Whoever is not willing to carry the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:38

or

Then Jesus said to his followers, "If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing even to give up their lives to follow me.” Matthew 16:24

or

And all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, or farms to follow me will get much more than they left, and they will have life forever. Matthew 19:29

The end of our text messaging conversation went something like this...

"I don't think I want to be a Christian anymore." I replied, "You know with what you've experienced I guess I wouldn't want to be one either." "How about we come up with a new title?" he asked. I responded, "No, we'll eventually mess that up too." He asked, "So what do I do?"

Yes, I gave him my answer. But I am curious. What advice would you give a high school student who knows Christian Students who attend a Christian club that drink, smoke, and have sex at parties on the weekend; who has been bullied and cussed at by Student Christian Leaders, and is avoided by Christians who attend his Church and Youth Group?

Submit your answers to ed@mysumc.org

Gandhi is quoted for saying ""I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians."

It's My Fault...

2009-04-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

During the month of February, our Youth Program was working through a series called "I'm In Love..." Being the month of love, why not. The topic dove into the topic of God's passionate love for us, our response to passionately love God, how sometimes our passions become misdirected toward loving stuff and each other, rather than the God.

We dove into topics dealing with friendships of the same sex (...ooops did I just say the "S" word?) We also dove into topics dealing with relationships with the opposite sex. (O dang it! I said it again...). During the first week of our series, one of our regular volunteers had to step out so I covered the class. We started working through the curriculum. It dealt with friendships and relationships. As a side note, I asked the 15 or so high school students, "How many of your parents talk to you about sex?" Not one. Let me repeat. Not one, raised their hand. I reformatted the question. "Okay, seriously, you probably talk about it on the side somehow, when you’re driving somewhere, or watch something on T.V., or hear something on the radio." Nope. Not a single student out of 15 raised their hand. Being the curious asian I am, I started asking more and more students how many of their parents talk to them about sex. The best answer I got was, "My dad told me if he ever found out I was having sex, he would send me to an all girls school and possible shoot the boy."

So this was about the time our new Pastor, David Lessner, was coming on board and I was unveiling this story to him. I said, "You know we should probably do a series on this topic..."

So here we are this weekend. Between then and now there has been a lot of heat going around the office about the "S" word. We've had to change banners, hide signs, use coded language, and deal with internal and external pressure about why in the heck would a Church ever want to make sex a sermon series.

Now a little background. My dad was militant. He had 3 boys and two daughters. There was definitely a double standard at our house. He didn't care who the boys dated and didn't care how late we were out. When it came to my sisters, my dad had to meet the boy before they ever started dating and they had to be home by 11 p.m. Could they possibly have dated someone without the brothers finding out? No, way! My dad never cut corners and told it as he saw it. At one particular dinner where my 16 year old sister brought over a potential boyfriend. I don't remember what this boy said, did or how he might of possibly looked at my sister but right there at the dinner table my dad said, "He's only wanting to have sex with you, you can't date him."

Whenever my dad heard something sexually graphic on the radio or saw something on the T.V., he didn't pull any punches. "You think you'd like that huh? You really want a girl who flashes herself around like that? You think her flashing is limited to your eyes." My mom wasn't silent either. Her basic philosophy came down to this - "Treat her like a Princess, don't marry the beautiful ones, every one gets old and ugly, the beautiful ones will bankrupt you trying to stay beautiful." In short my entire life was riddled in conversation with my parents about life. Yes, it was embarrassing, I hated it at times, and despised being around them because they never held their mouth in public or when my friends were over.

Fast forward two decades later when I asked my students, "How many of your parents talk to you about sex?" and when no one raised there hand I was in denial, shocked and mortified. This three week series we are working on is not intended to be shocking, media grabbing or tasteless. It's to remind this world that God is the creator of all things, including sex. The fear and resistance we've experienced, in my opinion, is based off of fear and our own past because of how this world has defined the topic of sex. That’s exactly the problem - we've allowed culture to define our understanding of sex rather than turn to God who designed sex in the first place. Sex is not to be feared. Rather in the right context, it needs to be celebrated, understood, and taught.

So this is all my fault. Within our Youth Program we make sex a topic of choice at least once every couple of weeks either in our Sunday School curriculum or on Wednesday nights. Hmmmm.... once every couple of weeks compared to all those videos they watch, songs they listen too, movies they watch, and pictures they send to each other through their cell phones. Once every couple of weeks isn't enough in my opinion. Just dive into your students world for a while - you're going to find the issue of sex. So, how are you playing a counter balance to all the images they see and lyrics they hear?

Proverbs
2:1 My child, listen to what I say and remember what I command you.
3:1 My child, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in mind.
4:1 My children, listen to your father's teaching; pay attention so you will understand.
5:1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen to my words of understanding.

I think you get the idea. So, who is raising your child? During the next few weeks it is our goal to give you tools to help keep sex in God's context, not what "The Secret Life of an American Teenager”," Shrek", "The O.C.", "Brittany Spears", "Axe Commercials", etc. teach our culture about sex.

Easter Evangelism Step 3

2009-04-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

During the next 7 Days I will share simple tools of Evangelism that I use on a daily basis in hopes that you will use these tools during the next week to invite others to Worship this Easter Sunday and every Sunday of the year.

The 7 Topics
1. The Church But Not The Church
2. Prayer To Action
3. Love Centered/Soul Care
______________________
4. The Drop Off
5. Common Grounds
6. The Questions
7. Face to Face

3. Love Centered/Soul Care
"I may speak in different languages of people or even angels. But if I do not have love I am only a noisy bell or a crashing cymbal." I Cor. 1:13

Pastors, Sunday School Teachers and Church workers probably use the term "love" more than any other institution or organization on this planet. There are many love languages but the institution of the Church often forgets that, "its not always easy to love people." We all have a bruised history wherein one person was responsible for causing that hurt and suffering. For Jesus to turn around and have the gaul to say, "Don't stand up against an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also" (Mt. 5:39) is completely opposite of our human nature. That is why if we are serious about inviting other to experience Jesus Christ we must rely on the super natural and not our human nature.

A few years back an Amish family was run over by a teenage boy who was above the alcohol level. In that accident the husband lost both his wife and children. If I was the husband in that situation my natural inclination would be to grab my shotgun or at least banish this teenage boy to years of jail and every time his parole came around I would bring pictures of my wife and children to remind him of the lives he took. Yet, this Amish community surrounded the teenage boy and his family with love. Not only did they go to his house to minister to the grieving teenage boys needs, they also ministered to the family by inviting them to the funeral, and inviting them to the inner circle of their lives - include prayer, dinner, bible study, Holiday Celebrations etc...

What the Amish understand and what Christians need to get a better perspective on is, "God created all human beings Holy" (Gen. 1:27). Not all human beings know this and if they do they often choose not to act accordingly. (Rom. 7:15). For thousands of years the Jewish Nation worshipped a God in the Temple because that is where His spirit dwelled (Psalm 48). While Jesus was there he told his followers that the Holy Spirit will now dwell within human beings (John 14:16-17) but they didn't understand what he meant until after his death and resurrection. It is noted in Matthew's Gospel that, .."the curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom" (Mt: 27:51) which represented that God is no longer in the Temple of a building but within us. Finally, Paul reminds us that "temple of God is within you"

Whether we see it or not, agree to it or not, God created every person Holy. We must forgive the damage of our own history, even if someone ran over and killed our loved ones. We must begin to see everyone as God's awesome creation, no matter how different, mean or obnoxious that person may be to you. If we do not love that person for their holiness then handing them an invitation to worship with us on Easter is mere bells and cymbals."

Bible Study
Job 38:1-7
What do these question mean for us today?

Action
Yesterday, you were asked to pray for every person you made eye contact with. Today while driving around consider that God created everything. Recognize that every person you pass by or come in contact with are Holy Creations made by God. Do they know it? Will you respond?

Prayer
"God today we Worship you and your creation in complete awe. Let us encounter your love in everything we see and every person we come in contact with today. Let us be your love for those who do not know you. Amen!"

Easter Evangelism Step 2

2009-04-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

During the next 7 Days I will share simple tools of Evangelism that I use on a daily basis in hopes that you will use these tools during the next week to invite others to Worship this Easter Sunday and every Sunday of the year.

The 7 Topics
1. The Church But Not The Church
2. Prayer To Action
3. Love Centered/Soul Care
______________________
4. The Drop Off
5. Common Grounds
6. The Questions
7. Face to Face

2. Prayer To Action
This coming Sunday Pastor Terri is going to invite us to pray for someone specifically to invite to our Easter Worship Service at The Bridge. My guess would be half the people you know have a home Church. Barnes statistics state roughly 80% of all American's claim to be Christian. Statistics also show that 40% of all Worship Attending people are willing to change religious affiliation. If you're a stats monkey like me that means we should be in the business of focusing on that 20% who are not followers of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 10 of Matthew's Gospel Jesus sends out His 12 Followers on a mission to heal and preach in surrounding towns. Just prior to sending out his followers Jesus say's in verse 9:37-38, " `The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest, to send out workers into his harvest field.' " Jesus commands us to pray before before we do any outreach. He teaches us to specifically pray to God for those who will be handing out invitation cards, which is us. Jesus also teaches us that God created and owns everything, the harvest workers (us), the harvest field (this planet) and the harvest itself (those who have yet to know and experience Christ).

Praying isn't enough, as you will read in the Bible study below, God calls us into action. Every morning my prayer is, "God use me." In that prayer God will often throw specific faces into my mind that I need to contact. God will also direct me to a specific place. For example this past Saturday God put it in my mind even before I got out of bed to drive to East McKinney. Being obedient (which I am not often), I did. I kept driving until I saw this house that was in such bad repair that I literally slammed on my brakes. There was an elderly woman sitting in a wheel chair on her porch. I got out of my truck, explained who I was and told her that I have a group of students who would love to help her make her house look better. So this spring break were going to clean, sweep, change light bulbs, paint etc. All because I listened to prayer.

Start praying now even before you get your invitation card. I gurantee you the very first face God throws into your mind is the person God wants you to invite to Worship Him on Easter Sunday with us. Do me a favor and grab a couple of extra cards because as the week progresses I will share with you different ways to hand those cards out to the potential 20% who don't know Christ.

Bible Study
James 2:15-17
How did prayer and good intentions help the person in need in this story?

Action
Every person you make eye contact with today, say a simple prayer in your heart for them.

Prayer
"Jesus we often take for granted that we can communicate with the God that created this universe and the very people who dwell on this planet. Let us not forget that you sent us a Holy Spirit that guides and directs us. Let your guidance and direction be for those who need to experience your resurrection story this Easter. Use us we pray. Amen!"

Easter Evangelism Step 1

2009-04-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

During the next 7 Days I will share simple tools of Evangelism that I use on a daily basis in hopes that you will use these tools during the next week to invite others to Worship this Easter Sunday and every Sunday of the year.

The 7 Topics
1. The Church But Not The Church
2. Prayer To Action
3. Love Centered/Soul Care
______________________
4. The Drop Off
5. Common Grounds
6. The Questions
7. Face to Face

1. The Church But Not The Church
I was recently asked if one "has to go to Church" in order to be saved. Before answering the question I always put a clarifier stating, "only God alone has the final say on what one must do to merit salvation." I answered the question to this inquisitive adult by stating, "one doesn't have to go to Church, God requires that we be the Church." This poor soul had that, wrinkle in the nose "huh" expression written all over his face.
Since this was a standing in line waiting for our coffee discussion, I quickly clarified my response by saying, "the Church is not a building. The Church is people responding to Jesus Christ and acting likewise." The guy grabbed his Starbucks and said, "that's an interesting point of view."

Now that I have you captive please let me clarify 100% the Church is a physical building but the Church is not a building. The Church is you and I. When Jesus left this planet he didn't tell His followers during the Last Supper in John 14:15-21 that the "spirit of God" would be in a building. He stated the "spirit of God" is within you and I. Yes, we gather together to Worship our Lord and Savior but where we gather doesn't matter. At this very moment there are people sitting around a coffee table worshipping God; there are people gathered around a fire worshipping God; there are people sitting in the desert worshipping God; there are people gathered in jail worshipping God; there are people on a boat worshipping God; you get the picture.
If we are going to reach out to people and invite them to our Easter Worship Service we must have a firm understanding that our Lord Jesus Christ is calling people to salvation and not a building. The problem is we've become to comfortable with the Church being a building. The Church as a building eliminates the human element. If we dare personalize the Church as being that person in the mirror we have to respond to God directly; no excuses.

Bible Study
Acts 2:42-47
Acts 4:32-35
How does the Church in the book of Acts look differently compared to our modern understanding of Church?

Action
The next time you look in the mirror and say, "You are the Church. Go do it."

Prayer
"Jesus help me recognize that I am to be the Church. Help me see all my brothers and sisters in Christ as the Church. Help takeaway my understanding of the Church as a building or that place I go to. Help me understand the Church is me living out your love. Give me the courage to be the Church. Help me gather support from my brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen!"

Turn It On

2009-03-02T10:38:00.001-08:00

This past Saturday, I drove home from Bridgeport camp in my new used $1.00 truck around midnight. It was a cold night and not having a heater in the truck makes cold into freezing. Just ask my toes who didn't have any sock friends to play with. Two days later someone had to borrow my truck and I noticed it was warm. Not just warm but uncomfortably hot. I looked at the A/C Heater control. The heater dial was turned all the way up and the heater fan was turned onto level 5. O.K. so I didn't realize you actually had to turn it on.

Apple Macbook laptops like any laptop have a personality of their own. Sharon's Macbook was less then two days old when she called, "I think I broke my laptop." I asked her if "the little white light in front was fading in and out." She said, "yes!" Hold the "on" button for about 30 seconds. Give it time to shut down then turn it on.

Our Church Student Ministry does car washes to raise money for mission trips. Adults and our older students drive cars from one station to the next. One day a Honda Prius showed up and no one knew how to turn it on. Of course those of us who know everything about anything could figure it out. Well you don't just turn on a Prius. You have to push and hold in a peddle, press the right button, whistle the right song, and obviously can't be Filipino. The owner eventually came outside and showed us how to turn it on.

The season of Lent is a 40 day period of reflection and introspection. Some choose to fast by giving something up in order to take on a more spiritual exercise such as prayer, meditation, reading their bible, etc. In early Christendom it was a period of preparation for Baptism into the community of the Church or a time of Confessing (one's personal sin but mainly their need for God). No matter one's intent going into this season of Lent, the purpose in the end is to come out "changed."

One of the greatest paradoxes of Christianity is understanding that the God of the Universe, the sustainer of all things created us and loves us just the way we are and wants our hearts now. Yet, there is also this belief that I can be better, do better, live better for God. We all can, yet it's not what we are called to do. When I read Matthew 22:36-39 (36 "Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?" 37 Jesus answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' 38 This is the first and most important command. 39 And the second command is like the first: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'). I don't find Jesus telling me that I need to fix everything about myself before I give my heart to Him. Nor do I find Jesus telling me that I have to be holy, fix myself, or be more spiritual in order to serve those in need. I find a God that calls me to turn on the serving button.

When the Disciples were chosen by God, they were asked to turn off their way of living and roam all over the middle east and turn on the unexpected. During this season of lent let's turn off some things as an offering to God. In the same token let's turn on the unexpected and journey with God. This isn't just a call to read more bible, pray, join a study group, etc... Those are all good valid spiritual exercises but go invest yourself in "loving your neighbor as much as you love yourself." That neighbor may be your wife that you've put off the last few weeks; one of your kids you keep promising to ___________ (you fill in the blank); a friend's phone call you keep ignoring; an old non-Christian roommate that keeps inviting you to a bar and you're too spiritual to go (ooops did I say that?); that homeless guy you pass every day, that single mother next door who has weeds growing out of her flower bed; etc...

A Little Short Sighted

2009-02-16T14:51:00.000-08:00

I have been blessed with the gift of short sightedness (if that's actually a word). About a year ago my vision scoped out to be 20/525. I think my eye doctor said I'm a few digits short of being labeled legally blind without my glasses or contacts. My glasses are still thick, even though they call these "ultra-thin lenses." When I was 17 I destroyed my dads truck by thinking I could pull it into the car wash without my glasses on. When I was young and acquiring the coolness that I am now, I would go without wearing my glasses because obviously cool kids didn't wear glasses. Constant headaches, failing classes, a few balls thrown to my face and the constant nagging from my mom, "wear your glasses or I'm supergluing them to your face" convinced me self preservation was a little more important than my coolness factor.

When I was in 11th grade I remember I put a lot of stress on my parents. I wanted to go to this fancy winter dance but I didn't money. I had a job but didn't save any money. Like most kids, I just assumed my parents grew money from their wallets or from the money tree they hid in their bed room. A little short sighted.

College was never an option for someone of my background and economic class, a little short sighted, until a Pastor convinced me to go at least check out a college and he would help me figure out how to finance my education.

When I was in college I got engaged my senior year. Looking back on that relationship now, the engagement was based more out of fear then love. The fear of change, the fear of moving, the fear that this relationship might not last unless there was a piece of gold uniting us together. Fear will make you a little short sighted.

I was so invested in trying to keep a relationship together that looking for a job wasn't my highest priority before I graduating from $60,000.00 education. Again, a little short sighted. I mean, I figured I had a B.A. in History and Religion now. Jobs are supposed to be pounding on my door. Defiantly, shortsighted as I turned in my application to Starbucks and looked for a career in Student Ministries.

When I finally landed my first full time Student Ministry job my ego and education almost ended me. I had just completed a 4 year degree and knew everything there was to know about God, Faith, and the Church. I was teaching Soren Kirkegaard teleological leaps of faith, Martin Buber God and Identity theology, when my students couldn't even find book of Acts in the Bible. After having a meeting with my Senior Pastor, I realized how short sighted I was in my desire to educate our students about loving God, faith and the Church. He taught me a lesson I carry to this day, "they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

Last Thursday one of my students coated my windows comments, smiley faces, and hearts. I had places to go and people to see so cleaning those windows were not my top priority. It wasn't that much of an issue until the sun set. For whatever reason the brain does what it does. It was very difficult for my brain to judge time and space and on three different occasions I pulled out in front of people blaring their horns and throwing me the single finger peace sign. Being short sighted almost literally destroyed me that night.

For whatever reason the spirit of God does what it does. God allowed me a moment of clarity and my short sightedness was removed temporarily. The message was simply this "you have one more life to reach for the kingdom of God." I started laughing as I usually do in these moments. God was reminding me that I am blessed to live and breath this very day. That today, this day I have the ability to reach someone for the kingdom of God because tomorrow may never come. I have a letter to write, a phone call to make, a friend in the hospital to see, someone going through a divorce i can encourage, a hug, a thank you, a smile, paying for a college kids starbucks, a waiter or waitress to tip well, a grocery bag to help fill, a piece of trash to pick up, a song to sing, a text message to reply to, and a host of other things that will bless someone else's life.

I have to thank God for allowing me to make the short sighted mistakes I have in the past. Because without them you wouldn't be reading this right now. Right now God wants me to tell you, "you have one more life to reach for the kingdom of God." He wants me to tell you He loves you just as much as He loves the first sun set. He wants me to tell you you are a blessing and have the ability to bless others lives. He's begging you to write that letter of encouragement, make that phone call, visit that friend in the hospital, encourage that friend going through a divorce, give that hug, say that extra thank you, smile more, pay for that college kids starbucks drink, tip that waiter or waitress well, help fill that grocery bag, pick up that trash you walked by this morning, sing that song, and text message that friend. God made us short sighted so that we can respond to the here and now. Will you respond to the here and now?

It's your move.

I can't wait for my next short sighted blessing.

The Bill

2008-11-12T09:29:00.001-08:00

I pay all my bills online. I never look at my statements. I have a trusting but nieve relationship with those whom I owe and those who take money from my account. I never balance checkbook. I have a general idea of about how much is in my various accounts but haven't balanced them out in a good 8-10 years.

Since I pay all my bills online I never look at my statements. When I say never, I mean NEVER! About four months ago I got a new phone and with that the employee at the counter asked if I wanted my bill "paperless." Sure, I'm in for saving the environment. (I never check my mail either. That's about an every six month activity - that's another story in and of itself). So now I get my phone bill online. Which I checked for the very first time the first of November. There on the very top left of the column. It had all these various entries about usage and balance due. Finally, they total all the columns to the right and there on the left column in bold font, all caps it reads TOTAL = $5,413.00.

I first thought I was misreading the bill. Then I hit the "are you kidding me mode." I clicked on the "View Complete Bill" option which it downloaded, and get this, 537 pages of information. That's right, I said, 537 pages of information. I quickly scanned to see what in the world was going on with my account. I didn't call the company for a few days out of business and hope that the next time I clicked my account it would automatically fix itself. "Hey! It could happen..."

Now let me explain my phone usage.
A). My mom lives in Morocco
B). My oldest brother lives in New Castle Australia
C). My brother above me is currently serving in the military and is stationed in...
D). My sister below me lives in Alsace, France
E). My youngest sister is currently at the University of Barcelona in Spain
F). I have people I keep in contact with coast to coast and internationally.
G). I average anywhere from 15,000-20,000 text messages a month (No that was not a type-o).
H). I average 5-10 MMS (pictures) a day. Usually goofy pics of students taking pictures of themselves saying, "guess where I am" or "look what I'm eating."
I). I average 30-50 emails a day, some containing large files of information.
Ask anyone around the office and they will tell you I live on my phone.

They were running a special last month with my phone company for a free wireless data card. The card is free but the monthly service charge is $40.00 a month. "Why not, I thought?" Besides my cell phone the other hardware device I live on is my laptop. So, why not. The conversation I had with the new sales person was this, "this is unlimited use like the internet right?" Their response was a certifiable, "yes." So I purchased the wireless card. When the new employee started pushing buttons on my account she turned off all of my "unlimited options."

Uh-oh!!!

So I eventually called the phone company. The person's first response when seeing my phone bill was to laugh then stated, "when your phone bill is the same amount as the volkswagon I just bought this weekend, there might be a problem" and the person continued to giggle. She put me on hold, did a little research and gave me a case # and said "we will call you back in the next few days to credit your account." After asking her what had happened she gave me the explanation above. Her closing comment was this, "it's good to know what you'd actually be paying if we didn't give you unlimited options."

It was at that moment I realized that the phone company sets the rate and the cost of using their services. I also had a moment of guilt realizing my personal cost for using their service if I didn't have unlimited options.

In Romans we are told that we are slaves to sin. I have to agree I'd rather do the Ed thing (hanging out, reading, writing, photography, hunting, fishing, etc..) rather then the God thing - loving God and serving others. Yet, in all the things that truly give me life have nothing to do with hanging out, reading, writing, photography, hunting or fishing but loving God and serving others.

I was reminded this month their is a cost to truly living. The cost was God's only Son who paid our bill in full and now tells asks us of two things, "love God and serve others." From there our options unlimited. Yet, God still gives us the option to do things our way or His. Yet, that $5,413.00 bill still remains paid for in full whether we do things our way or His. This has been my greatest lesson in grace.

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that in Christ we are a new creation, old things have been passed away, all things have become new. Become new. Step out of your box this week and love God in a new way and serve others around you. You may be surprised to find out God has had it right all along.

Family Ministry Priorities

2008-10-08T07:59:00.001-07:00

A mother, whose daughter is in our youth program, stopped me at the grocery store about a week ago. After doing the typical polite, "hello, how are you's!" Being me I always ask how the family and her daughter is doing. She quickly replied, "well I'm concerned about this new boyfriend she has." Her daughters only 13. "She has had different boyfriends in the past but this one is different and I overheard her tell him `I love you' on the phone the other day." The mother was wanting advice and suggestions on how to handle the relationship and this new challenge in their lives. At the very tail end of our conversation she stated, "its not like a 13 year old can really fall in love anyway."
Many of our students today, and most likely you too, have had a girlfriend or boyfriend before the age of 13. In the playground you held hands and you might have even written, "I love you" on a Valentines card as early as 3rd grade and meant it, to whatever capacity you can love someone in 3rd grade. But can a 13 year old certifiably be "in love" as the young daughter whispered on the phone to her new found boy friend?

Theologically, we know and understand that God is love. God gave us an example of love by sending His Son Jesus to die on a cross so that we could have new life and share His love with this world. Love God and love neighbor a very simple concept found in Matthew 25. One of the very first church songs we teach our children is, "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know." Every sermon you have ever heard, small group you've been involved in, Church conference you've attended, etc... will always teach of God's unending, never failing love.
Theological orthopraxis teaches us that in order to be a follower of Jesus, we must surrender our heart, our lives, and our will over to God. Some teach that this is a once and only once experience but from what I've learned that is a daily battle I personally fade, "my will be done" versus "God's will be done." Yet, that act of surrendering our heart to God can come at any age? So can a 13 year old surrender her heart over to another person? Yes.

For we adults, parents, guardians of children absolutely freak out. Why? Because we have absolutely no control, nodda, none, nitz, nope, uh-uh! One day your child is your child. The next your child's attention, affection, and dare I say it, "love" is directed toward some random person that you don't know or have ever met. Parent's will throw in their control factor. How much time they're child is allowed to spend on the phone, online, in public places, in private spaces, etc. Exactly the parents role. Meanwhile a child will be saying and experiencing this new relationship under your guidance with still little to no control on your behalf.

Love is a scary, exciting, dangerous, and overwhelmingly joyful experience for any person, even more so for adults, parents, and guardians. Likewise, a relationship with Jesus is just likewise - scary, exciting, dangerous and overwhelming. A relationship with Jesus doesn't promise us protection from harmful things. Yet, when we understand Jesus passion for our hearts and our lives we can not not respond to this new exciting life. If we were to really look at what Jesus is calling us to do, most of us adults, parents, and guardians, would not allow our children to follow Jesus. [Remember, it was He who first chose the lowest profession, the alcoholics, prostitutes, degenerates, etc... to be His first followers.] Yet, we are overwhelmed with the reality that God loves my child, my child can experience love, and both of these things are out of our control.

It is in these things that we must trust that God is in control. The best ministry you can get involved in during the teenage years is not so much the Student Ministry of your Church but maybe the Family Ministry under your own roof.

Check List

2008-09-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

If you were to parouse through the thousands of books in the Student Ministry Office you will find a section of books dedicated to what I call "Student Ministry Organization and Time Management." At my former Church we had a new Pastor who found it important that we "manage our time and ministry." This is the same Pastor who found it important for staff to "clock-in and clock-out" of work. This is the same Pastor who often stated how inconvenient it was when Church members got sick after hours. This is the same Pastor who barely lasted two years at that Church.

It was during that two year stint I actually "considered" the importance of managing my time and ministry. I bought every book I can on Student Ministry Organization. I went to a Stephen Covey training seminar, followed up by a John Maxwell Organization seminar. I purchased my first ever year round Franklin Covey Day Planner that had the hours neatly divided out on the left page, a check list on the right page, a section for notes on the bottom left page, and a "To Do" list on the bottom right page. To top it off I purchased my first digital organizer a "Sony Clie." That duplicated everything on my Stephen R. Covey Planner.

Then God kicked in His great sense of humor. I had a busy weekend ahead of me that looked something like this:

Friday
5:30 p.m. J.V. Volleyball Game
7:30 p.m. Varsity Football Game
Saturday
9:000 a.m. Church Conference Meeting
1:00 p.m. Sr. High Mission Meeting in the Woodlands
5:00 p.m. Christmas Rehersal
7:00 p.m. Dinner with New Church Family
Sunday
8:00 a.m. Read Scripture
9:30 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m. Read Scripture
12:00 p.m. Student Leadership Meeting
5:00 p.m. M.Y.F.

What wasn't on the calendar was me making a hospital visit at 3 a.m. Saturday morning after one of my students got shot in the foot, the 1 a.m. Sunday morning after one of my students called me to drunk to drive home. Nor the 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon phone call that told me two of my Youth Volunteers were getting a divorce because of infidelity. That following monday, I literally walked into the office. Took my day planner, unclipped the binder and dumped everything into the recycling bin. I took my Sony Clie planner, deleted all the information and gave it to a student who loved playing games on the little gadget.

It was that very weekend I realized that I have my own agenda and God has His. Reviewing my own work agenda seemed so weak compared to the incredible relationships that God forged that weekend. The boy who got his foot shot turned out to be one of my closest family friends to this day. The teenager who I picked up from a drunken stooper is now a Missionary I support in the inner city of Chicago. The couple who went through the divorce because of infidelity I still keep in contact with and often go snow skiing with whenever possible.

I read this morning Proverbs 16:1-3
1 People may make plans in their minds, but only the Lord can make them come true.
2 You may believe you are doing right, but the Lord will judge your reasons.
3 Depend on the Lord in whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Don't get me wrong. Do I lose things? Yes! Do I forget things? Yes! Do I miss meetings? Hardly ever, but occasionally! Do I keep a check list. Maybe?! In the back of my brain I know my responsibilities. I also know that God has His agenda. At any moment He is going to disrupt my agenda for His. The two years I kept a day planner I had little time for God.

So where does this leave you? Is your day rote with your own agenda, the to do's, the calendar, the schedule, the check list? Where does God have room. Maybe you should take your check list and throw it to the winds for one week. Maybe you should God "where do you want me and need me today." My daily prayer is this, "God, use me." All the sudden your to do's, calendar, schedule, and check list will take care of themselves and God will start directing you to "relationships." For none of to do's, calendar's, schedules, and check lists you've written throughout your entire life will amount to that one special relationship you forge with God, friends and family.

Laughter

2008-08-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

I spent 3.5 days in the S.W. corner of Colorado to rest. There's a monastery buried deep in the mountains that few know about and they do absolutely no advertising. I needed the rest. I needed it so much so that I slept for 26 hours - exhausted. After waking from the fog I did a lot of reflecting over the past year, reading, writing, and planning for the year to come. After day two I was ready to go home.

While walking through the woods early one morning I sat to watch the valley below me. The sun cast long shadows and the cool breeze enhanced my experience that moment. That breeze reminded of the Elijah in the cave story. Elijah had disappeared into the mountains of Horeb after learning that Jezebel was out to kill him. While in the mountain Elijah sought God out. So much so 1 Kings 19:9 God asks Elijah, "What are you doing here?" Elijah basically said, "I've been working my self to death trying to tell people about you God. Now your people have all turned away from you and are now trying to kill me." In the end Elijah got what he wanted. God came in the form of wind, earth quake and fire; yet God was not in these things. God came to Elijah in a "still small voice."

After the morning wind passed me by I started laughing hysterically out loud with only the trees, the breezes, the squirrels and other ground animals to wonder, "what is wrong with that asian." It was right there and then I was reminded of John 5:1-17. In this story Jesus gets himself into trouble because he healed a blind person on the Sabbath day. Jesus response to the religious leaders was basically, "God never stops working, nor will I" (5:17).

I had this overwhelming sensation that God was laughing at me. Seriously! The only thought that came to mind was, "Ed, you've had a great year and an incredible summer serving God not only in Texas but literally all over the world. Here you sit in the woods seeking God out. Isn't that so cute that you are trying to be spiritual and reflective." After the moment of laughter I was reminded of the phone call I didn't return from a student whose family is going through a divorce. I was reminded of the Ugandan Children's Orphanage that I had committed to help. I was reminded of that letter I was supposed to write. I was reminded of the National Conference I was committed to participate in but have done absolutely no prep. work. I was reminded that there are currently 4 elderly in our community that still need grab bar assistance with hundreds still in the wait. I was reminded of my relationship to Meals on Wheels, Rita Recovery, Juarez, Mexico, Haiti Children's Orphanage, etc. Then I was reminded of all the relationships that needed to formed at my own home Church.

Like Elijah I had sought God out. God asked me in the Mountains of Durango, Colorado the same question he asked Elijah, "Ed, what are you doing here?" The answer God gives is one that every servants of Jesus Christ needs to hear today. "God is right there with you now!" You don't need to seek God out in the external places of this world. You need to seek God who is working within you. Molding you, designing you to be His servant. The key word is servant. Servants serve God first no matter their energy, emotional or spiritual level. They just keep serving. Jesus reminds us that "God does not stop working, nor should we."

Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily and follow him. I don't know about you but every cross that I have ever seen that supports the full weight of a human being isn't light, comfortable, easy or convenient. Stop living your faith out like it should be. God's Kingdom needs you now. Not when it's light, comfortable, easy or convenient. Now go serve and stop trying to be spiritually cute or you may just hear God laughing at you, like He was laughing at me.

I'm Bored

2008-07-29T06:57:00.001-07:00

I ran into a student who I have not seen in months this past week. When enquiring about why they hadn't been coming to Church there response was, "yea about that... ...The whole religious thing is too serious for me." My response to him was, "have you seen the duckbill platypus?" He, like you, was confused temporarily. I explained, "Yea there are a lot of boring Christians out there. But God ain't boring!" The God who created the Duckbill Platypus, Giraffe, and by golly, look at me! Must have a great sense of humor!"

Being a consumer driven society I challenged him to find a Church where he can serve, connect with people and Worship God. I emailed him a list of all 71 Churches here in McKinney. He thanked me and I expect to see him back in our Youth Program in the fall.

Boredom! The word itself drives me absolutely insane. Yet a minimum of 20 students a day will text message or call me and say, "I'm bored." My quick response is always, "well go change the world." Those who don't know me think I'm just being funny. Those who do know I'm being dead serious!

Some call me an idealist when I say that, yet I remind them that Jesus didn't die so that we would live boring lives. I also remind them that 1 Cor. 12:4 states we all have gifts and talents. I also remind them that Jesus in Matt. 25:29 states that those who use there God given gifts will be given more. Those who don't use there gifts, the ones they had will be taken away.

The problem with the "change the world" approach is that too many people think that it has to be something big, original, and unique. I've discovered in my few years of ministry that changing the world doesn't come in the big, original, or unique; it's one person stopping their life long enough to listen to God and others.

What I mean by that is when your heart grows more attentive to the things of God. People become more and more important and the stuff of this world become less and less a focus. For example: God will put someone in my heart. I will send them a text message and simply say, "I'm thinking about you." God will put an expression an agonizing expression on a persons face and I simply say, "do you need help" or "there goes a deep thought." God will a piece of trash in front of me and I have the choice to pick it up or leave it.

The challenge for you is to start listening to God. Don't pray right now for God to use you unless you mean it. That may require you ditching half a day's worth of planned work and meeting to write that letter you've been meaning to write. It may mean that you have to actually talk to your husband or wife tonight about how they are doing and not what they are doing. It may mean listening to the heart of your child instead of listening to what their friends and other parent's are saying.

The comedy of God is this, you invite Him into your day, He's going to mess it up and I gurantee this hands down. He's going to take the plans that you have, lay them aside and say, "I love you! Now I need you to love others. Not when it's convenient. I need you to love others now."

So stop reading this blog. Don't pray. Because if you do you just might change someone's world around you. How borrrrrrrrrrrrring!

Eventalism

2008-07-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

When I was 16 there was a song called, "Let The River Flow" we sang in youth that often got stuck in my head. I don't remember all the words of the song but the illustration was that there was this thing called Christianity it was like a river we needed to search for reach out to and find. The song taught me that once you are in the river you go along with the flow until you are back in the real world. It was a catchy melody but it really screwed up my theology for many years.

While I was at Bridgeport Camp last week I was invited to speak at a National Youth Conference for 2009. The one I atteneded last year was absolutely phenomonal. It charged up my faith. It helped me refocus on some ministry needs and allowed me to refresh my relationship with Christ.

In 1997 I volunteered at a Summer Camp for a week long that literally changed my life. I was at a breaking point where I wanted what all my post-college friends desired - money, house, car, wife, 2.5 kids and a dog. Some of my friends were getting ridiculious job offers and I had a part time Youth Job and a part time book agent job. I was at a crossroad asking am I going to go after the way of the world or the way of God. That Summer Camp and particularly one song we are singing this weekend at The Bridge helped me make the decision to go after God.

This past week at Bridgeport Camp I heard student after student testify, "I love Bridgeport. It's the only place I can be Christian. It's the only place I experience Jesus." Etc... Yet in side bar conversations with many of these students I would ask, "so tell me about your Youth Group." Many of these same exact students either don't attend their Youth Group or have stopped going to Church and make Bridgeport Camp their religious ritual. Nothing against them at least they are desiring to go after God in some area of their life. Plus I fully understand that God is calling out constantly. The question that Jesus asked His disciples and asks us today is, "do you have the ears to hear?"

Eventalism - is my definition of those who make Christiantiy an event that one goes to. This can be anything such as camps, conferences, retreats, etc... but also includes Sunday Morning Worship and Student Ministry gatherings on throughout the week.

What we have done well in America is to box in this thing called Christianity. It's like this river we search for reach out to and find. It's a safe contained thing that "we do" at the appropriate time and space. Meanwhile we have forgotten that it is Christ Himself who gave us this time and space. What we do with that time and space Christ left completely up to us.

Christianity is not an event. It's a relationship with the creator, designer and sustainer for the entire universe. Yet, we box God in acting like our simple acts of piety and worship within given time frames of our lives honor God? When Jesus said to take up our cross and follow Him (Mk. 8:34-35) it wasn't a suggestion or question of convenience or a conference, a camp, a retreat, a worship meeting, Bible study, etc...

Do you have the ears to hear? Listen carefully becaus someone sitting very near to you right now needs to experience compassion, grace, love and care. You don't need to be trained on how to do these things. You don't need a Pastoral Licence to act out charity. You don't need to know St. Johns thelogical ontology of transubstanciatian. You need to understand that God Loves You, You love God. Love compels you to reach out to those suffering and needing compassion, grace, love and care.

"Let the river flow!
Let the river flow?"

Jump in the river and DON'T EVER GET OUT... See you at The Bridge this weekend.

Preoccupied

2008-06-18T08:11:00.001-07:00

If you've read the book of Acts, the Letter to the Galatians and any many other letters from Paul found in your New Testament you will discover Paul got himself into a bit of political wrangling when it came down to the issue on defining what believers in Jesus "should" and "shouldn't do."

Many of Jesus first followers were Jewish. Most of Jesus teaching questioned Jewish piety and religious customs. Throughout Jesus ministry he sought out the poor, needy, hungry, outcast, and non-Jews (you know those who were rejected by religious types in they're day). After Jesus death and resurrection Paul was called to reach out to the non-Jewish.

Peter, the Disciple who rejected Jesus three times at the end of His life was obviously Jewish. Peter and Paul had a major confrontation that involved pretty much the entirty of Christendome at that time. "Are followers of Jesus required to be Jewish and follow Jewish customs in order to be followers of Jesus." It may seem like a silly question now but it literally divided the first followers of Christ so mcuh so that Paul said in Acts 18:6 "From now on I will go to the Gentiles."

When Gentiles started joinging Jewish Followers of Jesus questions of appropriateness always became an issue. You can't eat shellfish! You can't drink wine! You need to worship like us. You need to be like us.

Peter and Paul would be happy to know that over 2000 years later we have never been able to resolve this issue. Defining what believers in Jesus "should" and "shouldn't do" has filled more pulpits in the last 2000 years then what I like to call "Christian Being."

The term "Christian" was not created by either Jewish followers of Jesus or Gentile followers of Jesus. It was created by a Non-believing Roman Leader by the name of King Agrippa in Acts 26:28." It took an outsider to catagorize we followers of Jesus. King Agrippa knew that there was this new form of Religion (which would have been considered Athiesm in that day because Caesar alone was god). This new Religion was different because of its emphasis on love and passion.

So what do outsiders say about us today? Let's put it more specifically. What do outsiders say about your Church or place of Worship. Is it defined as a place of love and passion like King Agrippa termed? Or is it just a building where people gather.

This past week I was embarrassingly grouped, gathered and defined by someone close me as "one of those Christians." I took it. I apologized for how "we Christians" sometimes act or fail to act in this case. The staining words for my heart was, "if this is how Churches define themselves I don't think I want to be a part of a Church."

In a world needing Jesus. We as believers are left as His representatives of love and passion. Our places of Worship don't define our faith. We do. The question isn't what we Christians should and shouldn't do. As far as I'm considred that's pretty common sense. What we really should be asking is, "how do the poor, needy, hungry, and outcast" define us. I am convinced this is who Jesus hangs out with. With that conviction it isn't a question of what does the world say about us but what does Jesus say about you and your faith.

That my friend is Christian Being. You become so preoccupied in being a passionate loving serving person of Jesus Christ that everything you do represents Jesus Christ. It's no longer a question of shellfish and circumcision or what you should and shouldn't do. It becomes a question of where and what are you going to allow to preoccupy your very short time span on this earth.

But I'm On Vacation

2008-06-11T08:45:00.001-07:00

August 14, 1998 I went on vacation with family friends to S. Padre Island. One letter would change "the planned" beginning of this odyssey. For anyone who has ever had to have a tax extension knows that August 15th is the last chance deadline before our friends the I.R.S. start knocking on the door. My friend being a C.P.A. lost a clients 60+ thousand dollar check which he was responsible to mail in for him

Anyone who has ever packed a family to go on vacation for a week knows the chaos that takes place. Mother hen trying to round up her chicks to pack. Who just happen to think their T.V. shows, friends, and social life is more important then "packing!?" The kids adopted the, "we're just going to the beach" mentality. Meaning all I need is a bathing suit. Meanwhile dad comes rolling in super late from a long day of work, exhausted, tired and ready to hit the road.

Now let's throw in a lost 60+ thousand dollar check, a 24 hour mail in deadline, and none of the kids packed. Yes, this was the making for very good drama. Everyone in the entire household (including myself) stopped what they were doing to find this lost check. Dad was in the driveway stripping the truck apart hoping to God he wouldn't have to call his client and say "oops..." The kids knew dad was stressed out and figured it was better to act like they were packing while hiding in the their room. I dug threw all the mail in the house. We all know what a weeks worth of unchecked mail can look like.

The temperature in the house rose as frustration turned to yelling. Yelling never produces any results. The dad went back to the office, taking his oldest daughter to help strip that place apart looking for the check. A few hours later, no luck. The neighbors across the street who were going on vacation with us caught wind something was up. After enquiring decided it would be best to not ask too many questions went back home to avoid the current house stress.

So now it's way beyond midnight. Too late to call the client. The entire house in melt down mold. Dad comes walking in with the check. It had fallen behind the drink holder in the center consul of this truck and was neatly suspended between a spring and one piece of plastic.

Yes, aren't family vacations just so fun?!

So much of our Christian life is like preparing for a family vacation. We have little ones we are spiritually responsible for who find other distractions more important. We have loved ones who get derailed by some of life's current but small frustrations. We have a destination in mind but wonder if we will ever get there. We have neighbors who enquire about "what's going on" but seldom invest themselves or their family into a life of faith.

Yes, isn't Christianity just so fun?!

I am reminded of Luke 9:23 "If anyone wishes to come after me, let that person deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Crosses are heavy objects. Not just the physical weight but the reality that our savior was suspended for hours on end and died on one of these. Jesus earthly odyssey was no vacation to say the least. Nor should ours. Yet we do like our vacation and comfort.

So to all those who ask me, "do you take the summer off?" My response is, "no!" If you ask me on a deeper level, nothing about our faith should ever be on vacation. If anything I approach summer time as that rare opportunity to dump our lives into our students who is defiantly filled with more earthly distractions then spiritual ones.

What is your summer line up? Is God just a good idea, when it fits in or are you hunking a gnarly cross on your back? Maybe this summer you can deny yourself some vacation time and give it to those who've yet to experience the heaven you so believe in.

But wait, I'm on vacation...

For activities to plug into go to: www.mysumc.org or our portal at http://stonebridge.ntx.umportal.org/main/index.asp

Heaven

2008-04-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

Tom Delong tells a story of a boy and who fell in love with a girl that had lost her leg to cancer. She had lost sight in one of her eyes and is semi-bald. In the same town a few blocks away people are eating enchillada's in a resturant filled with beautiful people. Tom considers both moments and asks, "what's really beautiful?" Both of these situations are beautiful but more importantly "our lives, our stories, right now, no matter what our situation may be, can, if we allow, to be the most beautiful moment if we take the time to embrace it."

There are moments in our lives where heaven and earth come so close together that we can't distinguish where God begins and our own life ends. Moments where I have heard adults and students both say, "I can die right now and my life would be complete." I've heard this sentiment in worship services, on top of mountains, at the birth of a child, and on perfectly sunny days like yesterday.

What we call a "moment" Jesus calls "eternity." In an experience obsessed world - where are the Christians living out their eternity? I often ask the question, "when does eternity or heaven begin?" The most common answer I get is, "when you die." My response is usually, "O really. So you are going to wait until you die before you really start living?" Doesn't make a whole lot of sense does it?

I am convinced that eternity is not waiting for us to be buried 6 feet in the dirt but has always been and always will be. Do we have the eyes to see it? More importantly do we have the courage to live it out, now?! Paul in Galatians 2:20 states, "I was put to death on the cross with Christ, and I do not live anymore -- it is Christ who lives in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself to save me."

Paul is not talking about a Sunday school he goes too, a Bible Study that he is involved in, a Mission trip he has gone on, where he volunteers in the Church or a particular style of Worship he prefers. Paul is talking about is a state of being which equates to a state of living. What theologians call orthodoxy to orthopraxis. In an experience obsessed world I truly believe the lost and those who question Christianity are looking for people who bravely live out their faith and not have to say a thing about it.

This past week a mother obviously needed help carrying her stroller with child strapped in up a flight of stairs. A student and I carried. On friday a hurricane Katrina family in Princeton needed some railing put in their bathroom so that her husband could get in and out of the bath tub and bathroom safely. A student, his grandfather and I put in some railings. Out of the kindness of their heart a family picked up my lunch tables meal this past Sunday. After explaining who I was, the waitress was so overwhelmed by this act of generosity said, "I haven't been to Church in ages but that's the type of Church I'd go to."

Tom Delong nailed it on the head when he said, ""our lives, our stories, right now, no matter what our situation may be, can, if we allow, to be the most beautiful moment if we take the time to embrace it." Embrace your death today so you can truly start living. Embrace your faith. Keep your eyes open for moments where you can cross roads with people, even if they don't want to cross roads with you. Mothers with strollers, elderly who can't walk and waitresses who don't go to Church are looking for people who live out their faith and not have to blab about it.

By the way Tom Delong is the former lead singer of the band Blink-182.

The Unholy and Unclean

2008-04-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

He [Peter] said, "You people understand that it is against our Jewish law for Jewish people to associate with or visit anyone who is not Jewish. But God has shown me that I should not call any person `unholy' or `unclean.' ~Acts 10:28

Peter was a Jew. We are American's. There are certain things that Peter just had imbedded into his lifestyle, that we can equally be guilty of possessing as American's. Peter realized that his former religion alienated those who were not Jewish from experiencing Jesus Christ. LIkewise, American Christians must begin to realize that our current form of religion can alienate those who are not Christian from experiencing Jesus Christ. [Please note I said, "current form of religion."].

Point in case. Two weeks in a row after our Wednesday Night Student Ministry gathering I went to the same restaurant for dinner. The first week I was there I noticed an Indian eating their meal - father, mother and two daughters. They were all very dark complected. The mother and younger daughter were in full Indian garb. The mother had a stone imbedded in her forehead with long black hair. The older daughter and her dad were more westernized.

I ordered my dinner and sat down near the family. The younger daughter kept pointing at me, laughing, then hid behind her mom. I made funny faces at her pointed to my hair she started laughing even more. The mom smiled politely yet gave me that `please don't get my daughter hyper look.' It's funny how some things translate cross culturally with no translation needed.

This Wednesday I went to the same restaurant again. The same family was sitting in the same place. I ordered the same meal. The young girl who laughed and pointed at me last week did the same this week. I ordered the same meal but this time took the opportunity to invite the family to Church.

The father spoke broken english. I don't believe the younger daughter or mother spoke any english. The older daughter was the most fluent. We talked while I waited for my dinner to be finished. During the conversation the one question the dad asked that stopped me in my tracks was, "will they [the people at our Church] stair?"

I knew the answer it made me so sick that I couldn't eat my dinner that night. I spent the evening crying, praying and begging God to help us change our "current form of religion." So I invited them to our Student Ministry gathering on Wednesday night. At least when kids stare we can blame it on ignorance or lack of life experience.

Like Peter, I believe we have got to view people as people. Not Jewish, non-Jewish, Hindu, Black, Hispanic, etc.... More importantly we can't view people as `unholy' or `unclean' because they are different from us who are followers of Jesus Christ.

My friend Shane describes this situation best, "I have an old hippie friend who loves Jesus and smokes a lot of weed, and he's always trying to get under my skin and stir up debate, especially when I have innocent young Christians visiting with me. (The problem is that he knows the Bible better than most of them do). One day, he said to me, "Jesus never talked to a prostitute." I immediately went on the offensive: "Oh, sure he did," and whipped out my sword of the Spirit and got ready to spar. The he just calmly looked me in the eye and said, "Listen, Jesus never talked to a prostitute because he didn't see a prostitute. He just saw a child of God he was madly in love with. I lost the debate that night" (Claiborne, Shane. "The Irresistible Revolution" pg. 265-266).

What the current American Church needs is a new set of eyes that sees everyone and everything as an awesome creation of God. So if that moment of piety over comes you this weekend. Consider how your looks, stairs and actions may draw someone into a relationship with you and God or derail the entire relationship. Paul recognized this at the beginning of the Christian Church. He had to break the laws of his former religion in order to reach those who did not know Jesus Christ. What do we need to change in order to reach those who do not know Jesus Christ. What do you need to change in order to reach those who do not know Jesus Christ. Maybe the American Church looks and acts too much like the American people instead of the Jesus we are called to serve and Worship. Maybe it's time we start doing things God's way instead of our ways. Maybe our eyes can change and see. Maybe?!

The First Premise

2008-04-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

A Pastor who has been trying to hire me for over 6 months gave me a phone call last Thursday asking, "so what's it going to take for you to move?" Tonight I had a truly God inspired answer.

We had a Church planning and visioning meeting tonight to discuss the future and direction God is moving our congregation. During the closing Worship Service Pastor John invited us to talk about what God was speaking to our hearts. I shared that "we the Church" (not specifically Stonebridge UMC but the Church in America) has got to get back to the basis of our faith "love." I stated, "people don't come to Christ because of a great children's, adult's, student programs and other ministries. People don't come to Christ because we have a great building, Pastor, sound equipment, etc... People come to Christ because they are authentically loved by God's people (you and I)."

It's my conviction Church Staff's have busied themselves in program area's, maintaining a building, operating ministries and departments. We've completely forgotten we are called to love God first then love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. People reflect leadership. Church staffs have learned that people "catch on" and "buy into" visions, a plans, a tasks. These things give us a sense of accomplishment and "doing something" to help God expand His Kingdom (as if He needed our help). So the people of God in America are in the business of "doing somethings" in Church in order to say they have an active faith. Worst case scenario is the belief that by being busy for God equals loving people. O really?! I judge myself the most guilty in this category.

In both the Old and New Testament story tellers, prophets, Kings and Jesus Himself spoke of love in the context of marriage. One of the most beautiful pictures of love is the image found in Revelation 21 where God Himself marries the Church His Bride, God's people (you and I).

Love in the context of marriage makes absolute sense. For those of you who are currently married I don't know how you met your significant other but I can guarentee the stories interesting. At one point two strangers were traveling this universe then one day you crossed paths and now you are married to each other in love.

Love in the context of marriage also makes absolutely no sense in the context of Revelation 21. Here stands God who says, "I want to be with your forever. You are mine. Through better or worse. Until death do you... O! wait... We are eternally His!" I feel so unworthy of that type of love. His great capacity to love and forgive us no mater our sin. Boy, am I good at sin. Yet, God still chooses to love you and I.

Now take into account that we (you and I) are the bride of Christ. What is the ten year plan, the vision, the program, the ministries, that will keep that us married to each other?! There isn't one because love was, is and will always be the first premise in our relationship to God. As you and I both know busying oneself does so much to create a health love environment in your household and our Church.

When Paul was establishing the first Churches and invited people into the Kingdom of God you knew his first premise was God's incredible love that reached down to him (literally). When you are in love you want to tell the entire world. Paul did just that. The first Churches established was based on love and care for one another (Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4: 32-35). Paul knew recognized that in order to keep Churches healthy he had to educate and involve people into ministries of caring. Today's Church is full of ministries of education and caring but we don't necessarily have to love the people we are caring for nor love the people we have partnered in ministry with because it is a program, project, or mission trip.

There are many strangers traveling this universe who need to experience the love of Christ. We who call ourselves Christ followers are the only avenue to make that marriage happened. We must first see how our marriage to God is going. When we are busy, lost, angry, upset, feel unloved, etc... we are not going to talk highly about your spouse or beloved. Fall back in love with Jesus. Whatever it takes. Quit your job, move, stop going to busy religious stuff. Search out the scriptures, pray, fast, consult religious leaders and class members to join you. Love God first with all your heart soul and mind. Then love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. Make love again your first premise.

So I called my Pastor Friend late tonight and said, "I'll work for you if you can tell me beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're people are absolutely sold out on loving one another and not being a busy Church doing ministries." He paused on the phone and said, "Thanks for my next sermon series and O! Yea... I'll call you in two weeks."

Got It All, What Next...

2008-04-08T11:04:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I got into a conversation with some missionaries. We were sharing ministry stories, dreams, goals, ideal situations etc... In the midst of our conversation one missionary stated, "I grew up wealthy having everything I ever wanted, so when someone gave me the opportunity to leave it all, I took it and ran..."

In making a video for our student ministry program I interviewed 6 high school students, male and female, two from each of the three high schools in McKinney. The information dealt with spending habits at formal dances. While interviewing one of the students she commented, "I know my parents give me an unrealistic living standard for my future. There is no way I will ever be able to keep up with this lifestyle I'm living in high school once I have to live on my own."

A few years ago I worked with a couple in trying to avoid the tides of divorce. I was absolutely shocked when they relayed the news to me. On the exterior this couple was truly living the "American Dream." Like most couples struggling in their situation they put on a great facade, while living an incredible lie about their marriage. In one of our visits the husband stated he was providing for the family so they can have "whatever they want" [financially].

I currently know five female students (3 middle school, 1 in high school, 1 in college) battling anorexia or bulimia. In most of these cases there are issues of acceptance. Part of that "American Dream" is to fit in and be drop dead gorgeous. In all these cases the parents love their children and do everything they can to provide them everything they need. LIkewise, a former student of mine in my last Church was a heavy cutter (cuts himself with sharp objects). His parents also loved him incredibly and gave him everything he ever wanted or needed.

Sharon and I just finished reading the book "Beautiful Boy" (you'll find it at Starbucks) about a father's journey through his son's addiction to methanphetomines (crystal meth./crack/crack etc...). The father in this book loves his son and gave him everything he ever wanted.

So what is a student to do when they have it all? In Jesus very first public sermon He preached, "Don't store treasures for yourselves here on earth where moths and rust will destroy them and thieves can break in and steal them. But store your treasures in heaven where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and steal them. Your heart will be where your treasure is" (Matthew 6:19-21).

I believe its time for the American Church to question this so called "American Dream." The goal for so long has been to get a great education so you can have a good job that pays you a lot of money to support your family. Here we are with bigger houses, sexier cars, more t.v's, plastic surgery, more eating establishments and centers of entertainment and even more Churches. Is it our Kingdom come our will be done or His (meaning God)?

Romans 12:2 states, "Do not conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect." It's time to take a good look around and remind ourselves that we (you and I) are the Church - not our building. If this Church is part of this so called "American Dream" then it may be out of place. Maybe God is pointing us towards a much bigger dream - "His Kingdom." When we look into his Kingdom we will see 360+ Ugandans dying daily. In that Kingdom we recognize that there are thousands of villages in Northern India where a Christian has never stepped foot. In that Kingdom we see 8-13 year old girls in Korea being sold into child pornography and prostitution where there is more legal aide then Christian support. In that Kingdom we recognize homelessness still exist in a N. America where we own over 60% of the worlds wealth. Some how I feel those involved in God's Kingdom sense the importance of being involved in taking care of the lost, the hungry, the dying, the needy or maybe, maybe that next purchase I make will finally make me feel like I've succeeded in living the "American Dream." I doubt it....

El Chico In Uganda

2008-04-03T06:59:00.001-07:00

Went to El Chico a few days ago with a couple of my students. When the wait staff finally figured out that we hadn't been helped yet, I could have blown up and ranted about how horrible the service was here. Being a former waiter myself I had compassion and empathy for the situation. He got us our drinks and when he returned my students and I were heavily invested in a conversation about how to change the world. He asked, "So what can I get you..." My students ordered the typical meal - quasodias and the other student ordered something from the children's menu. Then it was my turn...

Side note - If you've never done dinner with me in a public forum. I don't ever look at the menu. They confuse me like Super Wal-Mart. Too many options only confuse the A.D.D. When I go I always forget what I intended to get and end up buying other things I don't need - argh!. Likewise, with restaurants. So I've learned that if you invest your wait-staff in the decision it throws them off but personalizes the situation.

So he asked, "and you sir..." "Sir," I laughed in my head. I said, "let's say you were to die tomorrow like you are on death row and this was the restaurant you chose to go to what would you order?" The question really caught him off-guard. He was honest and said, "if I were to die tomorrow this wouldn't be the restaurant I would chose to go to but there is this chicken...." Then all heard was, "blah, blah, blah..." It was basically covered in some fancy sauce with veggies. He had me at "chicken."

By this point my students were rolling on the floor laughing their heads off. After the waiter left they replied, "you are so weird." Enter teaching moment. This guy felt really bad that we were forgotten. He was uncomfortable and it looked like he's had a really bad day. By giving him the choice to choose for me changed his attitude completely. My being "weird" personalized a moment and we NEVER had an empty drink that night. He waited us hand and foot constantly asking, if we needed anything. I guarantee we were the best waited table at the restaurant that night.

Last night about 350 came out to experience the Ugandan Children's Orphanage Choir. It was an incredible moment of Worship and Ministry. I am sorry for all of you who missed out on this incredible event to literally change a persons life.

I was brought back to our dinner conversation and realized that hundreds of thousands of people will die today because they don't have food, water, sanitation, medication, etc. never mind a healthy meal. We can rant and rave about our wants, our needs, our rights, our (you fill in the blank). Ranting solves nothing. For the 350 or so of us that were at the service last night we experienced compassion and empathy that can only come from God. For just a little while we realized that those people in Uganda are real flesh and blood. The 10 Ugandan students we saw on stage are the lucky ones. Yet, this very hour 11 students will die in Uganda because they lack the basic necessities of life, never mind an opportunity to experience love of Christ, education or hope.

So I rant in this blog and plead for you to "...change something..." Change something in your life, change something in your spending habit. Change something so that we as the American Church can stop worrying about keeping lights on in our house of worship and focus more on how we are to change a world literally dying without ever hearing the name Jesus Christ or experiencing Christian compassion and empathy.

Worship Space

2008-04-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

I went to Starbucks this time last week and probably had one of the best Worship Experiences I have had in a long time. It wasn't a Worship service in the traditional sense with candles, music, preaching, offering, singing, etc... but it was a Worship Service in that God was definatey present. Similar to the Worship service that happened on the phone last Friday when I spoke to the Director of the Ugandan Orphans Choir and the Worship service that happened at a bar last Thursday night as we wrestled about faith issues or the Worship service that happened two weeks ago when a man down on his luck was needing spiritual and financial aide or the Worship service that took place in a beat up, run down, Toyota as a woman shared her faith with me and a student disagreed about Prosperity Gospel. In all these occasions "God was Present."

There are occasions in my own life where God's Spirit is so incredibly evident that I can do nothing but take the moment in. There is nothing I can say. Nor is there anything I can do but just bask in the reality of His presence. Most of these occasions happen outside the doors of our house of Worship.

Our staff works incredibly hard to "make Worship happen." As if God needs our help to make His reality more present. We just completed a new building where exciting Worship and Recreation will take place. We often act like God is dependent on these things to share His love and grace. Acts 17:24-25 reads, "The God who made the whole world and everything in it is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples built by human hands. This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them; he has everything he needs" (emphasis is mine).

We need to be reminded that God doesn't need our money, ministries or buildings. What God wants is "us." Once we are His, we begin to understand Acts 17:24 "...God made the whole world and everything in it..." Suddenly our money, ministries and buildings are not really ours but just another opportunity to reach out and experience the God of All; the same God that I experienced at Starbucks, on the phone, at a bar, in an office, in a rundown Toyota and even Church.

God doesn't want what you can do. God just wants you. God doesn't need you. He wants you. Give yourself first to God then everything else will follow. You recognize that your money is His money, your ministries are His ministries, and your building is His building. How are we taking care of these things? Are you intimately connected to the God of this Universe or have you created your own Universe where you allow God in every once in a while?

Change Something

2008-03-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

2 Timothy 4:2-4
2 Preach the Good News. Be ready at all times, and tell people what they need to do. Tell them when they are wrong. Encourage them with great patience and careful teachings, 3 because the time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching but will find many more teachers who please them by saying the things they want to hear. 4 They will stop listening to the truth and will begin to follow false stories.

Every Wednesday night I have an incredible opportunity to open up God's word and share it to our students. The Church now has given me the opportunity to open up God's Word and share His Message on occasionally on Sunday mornings. On a regular basis people will say, "Good Message," "I've never heard God's word presented that way," "That was awesome, etc... I accept the accolades but deep within the core of my human being know that my words mean absolutely nothing if something doesn't change in the life of God's people.

Working in Churches for as long as I have it always astonishes me how many people really dis-like change. People grow comfortable to a certain music format, worship order, "spiritual" song (whatever that is), and prayers. Likewise, we sit in the same seat, our kids will often sit in the same order, and some people fall asleep at the exact same time during the worship service every week. Luckily, our Church believes in change. Yet, it vexes me when sacred cow's occasionally raise their ugly head.

Our God is a God of change. He changed the whole friggin universe in one colossal moment when He sent His Son Jesus Christ to save the world. In that salvation on the cross our eternal destiny was universally changed. I often fear people don't get that because they don't like or want to change.

We all know that change for change sakes has no benefit what-so-ever. Likewise, if a Pastor encourages people to change because he or she is bored with the status quo equally has no real long lasting spiritual benefit. Change for the sake of God's Kingdom will reap rewards "on earth as it is in heaven."

Sometime in the very near future we are going to be sending our students as missionaries to change the world. Our Church specifically has got to change how we spend money. I get physically sick driving through our community seeing the wealth we live in and knowing our financial crush. I will be seeking your support to send some of our students to India, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Haiti, and the ends of the earth. Likewise, we've got an entire list of Missionaries knocking on our doors who've had children literally die in their arms because they didn't have "1" tylenol to give that child. They will also be asking for money. How can I even invite them through our doors knowing that our Church only tithes 2% (.9% less of the national average).

This Wednesday, April 2, 2008 we have an Orphanage Choir from Uganda coming to perform at our Church from 7:00-8:30 p.m. If you want to see the faces of who God wants us to reach come this Wednesday. These are the healthy ones who have been given an opportunity. Please also understand that 320 people will die in Uganda today (according to the Ministry of Health) because they don't have a $17.00 net.

Consider how you spend your money today and "...change something..."

On Earth As It Is In Heaven

2008-03-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

The summer of 1992 I participated in a training program entitled T.O.P.S. (Training Organization Placement Service) for Youth Directors. It was designed to help up-and-coming Youth Directors to work in local Churches. It also connected Churches to a pool of Youth Directors that may be looking for a Church to work in or transfer to a different Church.

It was at T.O.P.S. that I learned an "inside Church workers philosophy" that I made sense and I agreed to then but now reject. It was simply this, "have a life outside the Church." What they were basically saying is Church work and Church people can often get ugly with unrealistic demands and expectations. If you life and breathe this 24/7 it will swallow you up and burn you out. Kinda, makes sense doesn't it? T.O.P.S. isn't the only Youth Director/Pastor training that has promoted this philosophical teaching. G.B.O.D. (General Board of Discipleship) and Youth Specialties Conference and a host of other events I have been to equally share this teaching.

My problem is that this teaching completely slaps Christ in the face according to Ephesians 5:25, Revelations 21:2 and Acts 2:46-47. I will admit the business side of Church work can make one pull out their hair (or dreadlocks in my case). But there is a higher calling on all our lives. If all I am left with at the end of the day is 8-5 job, photocopying, returning phone calls, emails, text messages, budget issues, moving chairs, and preparing events then I would want a life "outside of the Church."

I've been in that season of interviewing summer interns and potential Youth Directors who seem to call every other week. Stonebridge UMC is a place where many an intern, Youth Director/Pastor desire to work. We have dynamic facilities, incredible students, committed volunteers, and a passion to follow Christ that isn't deeply imbedded into Methodist Theology or Church Politics.

I always warn my interns who will most likely Direct/Pastor other Churches "it will be difficult for you to work in other mainline traditions because we are going after God." As I write this I know a Youth Director who left a Church in Kentucky because the Youth Group grew to fast and the "members are concerned about all these new students they don't know." Another Youth Director has been asked to leave because he wiped out the Youth Budget on service projects and mission trips and not spending more money on "entertainment events." Another Youth Director I knows Pastor asked him to, "do less Bible study and more recreational events." These stories go on and on and on and on...

These Youth Directors/Pastors who leave their job some will go on to Direct/Pastor other Churches. Others will choose to leave the ministry outright. In either case "a life outside of the Church" for these people. Impossible! And so the story goes with me. "Stonebridge UMC is my Church." It took me 7 years to become a member of this Church. My 10% offering goes to this congregation. These are the people that I worship God "on earth as it is in heaven."

Have you joined yet? When are you going to commit?

Bulls On Main Street

2008-03-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

As we enter the week of Holy Season I find myself reading through one of the bloodiest chapter in the Torah (First five books of the Bible) Leviticus. The cost of our sin demands a sacrifice. In the old Jewish tradition found in Leviticus most sins required an animal sacrifice. What I have read thus far the weight of the sin would equal the weight of the animal to be sacrificed. For example if some sinned directly against God they had to bring a bull to be sacrificed. If someone forgot they made a promise to neighbor but then remembers the promise the person is to sacrifice a lamb or goat. If you harm somone knowingly but it doesn't cause them permionant physical damage the person is to bring a pigeon or dove to be sacrificed.

We who believers in Jesus know and understand that He is the ultimate sacrifice paid for the weight of our sin nature and not necissarily our sin action. I'll get back to that later.

After reading scripture this morning I had this very humerious but not so humerious thought running through my head. I imagined myself living in Levitical time. I see myself going to the priest not only with a bull, but also a sheep, a goat, and a couple of birds. It dawned on me, "I'm not the only one that sins." So now we have an entire street filled with people and their animal farm of sin. We all know what happens when you bring unfamiliar animals together - heh, heh, heh, heh... Nevermind the wonderful odefierious stimulation we'd be experiencing. Could you imagine the conversations in that line. I can overhear someone saying, "So you noticed Eliot Spitzer's got a bull with him? Hmmm... wonder what's that about?"

The book of Leviticus requires that these animals are unblemished and perfect. So what happens if I've cleaned my sheep up for sacrifice and the stupid thing gets freaked out by a bull in the line and runs away, falls into a ditch and breaks its arm - AHHHHHHHH!!!!

The sacrificial act was not a slow or easy process either. When i walked into the temple. I was responsible for breaking its neck. The Priest would then cut it open rip out the kidney and the liver. Splatter blood from the animal 7 times on the alter then touch each corner of the alter with blood. Then we would have to skin the critter (if you've ever had to skin an animal you know its not an easy process). The the priest would throw the animal into the fire until it was fully consumed by the flames. Trust you me they didn't have microwavable flame-o-matics in their day. Burning an entire animal takes time. Me being me, I would have told the Priest, "I'm not leaving until I know that sucker is cooked up. I'm being freed for that sin and O yea! I've got more animals and will be back in line tomorrow."

I thank God for Jesus. Jesus death on the cross paid for our sin nature. When I was growing up my Youth Director would often say, "Ed every time you sin your putting Jesus back on the cross." Yea! this was a good scare tactic but the theology was really screwed up. Me accepting Jesus means that I fully understand that I am the biggest screw up on this planet and I will continue to be until the day I die. This isn't an excuse to sin but this is a fully cried out recognition that I need a savior from being me. Like John the Baptist we cry out, "He needs to become more and I need to become less" (John 3:30). Amen! It wasn't until Jesus rose from the grave that His followers started saying, "I need to become nothing so that he can become everything" (Matthew 10:38).

As Pete Messick said this past weekend, "we are in a win-win situation with Jesus." If you have a winning hand you are going to go all chips in. I'm glad that my daily sin doesn't nail Jesus back on the cross. With as many sins as I commit in a 24 hour period he'd never be allowed off the cross. Jesus calls us to an "abundant life" (John 10:10). So my question to you, "are you living it?" Not for you but for Him? Do you have a "daily bread" dependency on Him? If and once you do sin actions are no longer the issue but serving a God who is striving for the salvation of the entire planet. If you want a secret, Jesus won!" Go read Revelation 21.

Satire on Nominal Christianity

2008-03-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

"Lately it seems too many Churches have been coming down on nominal, every day Christians. Gone are the days of being comfortable with your Sunday Morning Worship and living out the rest of your week. To be honest Churches have just become overly annoying with everything they are asking - tithe more, get involved with a Sunday School Class, and a weekly Bible class. Now I hear more and more Churches are asking people to go on a Mission Trips? Yet, it was just two weeks ago the Church was teaching how a percentage of our offerings go to World Missions. Isn't my money enough?

If you those overly Church people would get a grasp of my life and my schedule they'd understand. I'm on salary so that 40 hours a week is a mere joke. That doesn't even include the busy schedule of my family. Every weekend there seems to be a soccer tournament one of my two kids are playing. My wife is constantly calling upon me to have to pick up one of the kids at practice meaning that I am missing important business phone calls with Taiwan. I just wish my wife would understand that my real work hours are in a third world country. I do have a reputation to keep up being the #2 sales person in my division.

Being a guy I need my down time also. The golf court, fishing or doing something to just get away. I remember the Pastor teaching a few weeks ago that every one needs a Sabbath day of rest. If I get a Sabbath day rest once every couple of weeks I'll be lucky.

Yea, there is a place for nominal Christians like me in this overly religious world. If I was single like you I really could serve God but I'm a married man with obligations. Don't get me wrong. I love God and stand during Worship songs. Occasionally I really sense the presence of God but I don't think He is calling me to do all that other stuff. So I am happy and content with my style of faith."
_____________________________
This was an actual conversation I had with someone this past week. I told the man to stop going to Church and spend that time reading the entire New Testament for yourself. The final question I asked was "who has the final say at your job?" He responded. "My boss." "Exactly, my point," I responded, "so who has the final say of what a Christian is? You or God?"
______________________________

Matthew 8:19-20
19 Then a teacher of the law came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, I will follow you any place you go." 20 Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes to live in, and the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest his head."

Luke 14:26-27
26 "If anyone comes to me but loves his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters -- or even life -- more than me, he cannot be my follower. 27 Whoever is not willing to carry the cross and follow me cannot be my follower.

Revelation 3:15-16
15 I know what you do, that you are not hot or cold. I wish that you were hot or cold! 16 But because you are lukewarm -- neither hot, nor cold -- I am ready to spit you out of my mouth.

Removing Matthew 25:31-46 From Our Gospel

2008-02-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

A student of mine introduced me to a project entitled Miniature Earth by Donella Meadows (go to www.miniature-earth.com). She wanted to know what the entire world would look like if earth was reduced to 100 people. Though the research for this project was compiled in 1990, there are some issues you and I as believers in Jesus Christ must get over and deal with...

I love it when our Students go on Mission Trips. After returning from these trips there world view is completely turned upside down (even for just a little while). They realize they have a lot to be thankful for and the world outside of the confines of planned subdivisions and gated communities is much bigger then they can solve.

This weekend I am taking a group of students down to Waco to be Homeless for a weekend. Yes, we paid for this experience but all the proceeds go to fund those whom Jesus calls, "hungry, thirsty, strangers, and without clothes" in Matthew 25:35. Every time I take a group of students on this trip 1 or more have committed themselves not only to Christ but to a life time of full time ministry to the poor and needy.

In our Student Ministry and the life of our Church we are dealing with a lot of serious issues - divorce, parent's in jail, students on probation, financial issues, students sleeping with one another, anorexia, self esteem and acceptance issues, major medical problems, etc... After watching the Miniature Earth project I can't help but say that our issues are a smaller picture in a much bigger world.

The part of the video that strikes me most is:
"18 out of 100 people struggle to live on 1.00 a day
53 out of 100 people struggle to live on 2.00 a day"

In 1992 the New York Times reported that 40,000 Third World children will die from simple preventable diseases each day. The Hunger Project launched by former President Bill Clinton reported that 24,000 people die a day from starvation. Yet we worry about how our Worship Service went in the new building, Title I Schools in McKinney and Jason Kidd being drafted to the Mavericks? We concern ourselves with our problems going on in our world.

I can't help but feel Jesus say, "are you kidding me? You have mental and health care, you are 25% of the world population that have food, clothing and shelter, you are wealthier then 70% of the entire world. You have clean water, basic sanitation, etc... yet 40,000 children will die because of a common cold and 24,000 will die because they have no food?

If the Church cannon would have left out Matthew 25:31-46 I could careless about anything that goes on beyond Stonebridge UMC. I could focus on ministering to our members, our needs, our cares, growing a great youth program etc. We as a Church would only have to worry about our Worship Service this weekend, if congregations members are upset, if tithes are coming in to support ministries, or if our numbers are continually growing. Yet people in world beyond our doors are literally dying.

I don't know about you but I don't want to be on the side of the goats. Maybe Jesus was only kidding when he told this story. Maybe he didn't mean it. Maybe there's a spiritual interpretation that we aren't considering in the story. Maybe we are missing something in Matthew's translation from Hebrew to Greek to English. Maybe? Maybe not?

I wish I had the option of picking and choosing the Bible passages that support my life style and my belief. I don't have that luxury neither do you. Are you all in?

What Does That Make Me?

2008-02-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

David Crowder Band - Everything Glorious

Add to My Profile | More Videos

"The day is brighter here with you.
The night is lighter then its hue.
Would lead me to believe
Which leads me to believe
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours, What does that make me?"
~David Crowder, "Glorioius," Album Title: Remedy

Ever feel like your just fumbling around this universe, bouncing from one thing to the next, wondering what the heck your actually doing or supposed to be doing? I was having that type of morning until I went out to walk the dog. It was a crips cold air shiveringing everything to life. The wind was more then the wind. I caught the sun mid-horizon clashing with the wind but eventually colaborating to paint a scene for me and my dog to enjoy. The sunrise was more than the sunrise. For a while this morning I was caught up in "Ed-Land" worried about our building opening. Kicking myself for forgetting to do my Bible Study. Angry that I slept too long, instead of promising to spend that time in prayer. God spoke through the wind and horizon to remind me, "you are mine" and as David Crowder says in the song above, "I am Yours." I guess this was God's way of saying, "Happy Valentines Day, I love you!" I don't think God needs a holiday to remind me of His love. Maybe we do...

So I listened to this song as I went to my second office (Market Street) today. I never put the lyrics together until my experience this morning. So often I experience the awesomeness of God in his creation (nature). I am reminded of a time in 2001 I sat in 60 below zero weather on top of Winter Park. For just a moment I was on the mountain by myself (no other idiot would have been out in those elements) the sun was glistening off the snow. My only responce was to sit there and worship God. Again, I went hiking through the Appalachian Trails with a group of students. I was the lag man bringing up the team. We rounded a curve in the mountain that exposed the valley below. I literally had to catch my breath at the awesomeness that God still framed for me at that moment. My responce was to just shake my head and say, "no way." Meaning, this is so awesome I have no other words to use. I can go on and on with experiences like these. I also know you have your own stories.

It struck me today, through Crowders lyrics, that, that same awesomeness in which we see God; God sees in us. Whoa..... Think about it. God created all things according to Genesis 1 and John 1. We praise and thank God for moments when we experience Him in his creative nature. Yet, we often forget we are part of that very same creation.

If you are like me you are very shy of every saying, "God calls me glorious" but He does. I feel so unworthy at times because I have mornings like I had this morning where I stress out, sleep in, and forget to read His word. Yet, I am reminded that, no matter all these things God is screaming out to you and me, "I love you." God reminded me this morning that these acts of religious practice don't constitute my faith. They are tools to growing or building faith but not the main thing. As Interm-Pastor Scott Jones taught us, "keep the main thing the main thing." I would finalize that statement by saying, "the main thing is Jesus."

So for a little while today bask in the knowledge that the God who created this entire universe also created you. He not only calls you "good" but as Crowder states, "glorious." Accept the fact that no matter what we do to be more holy or religious they are all missing the point if it's done out of discipline, practice, or routine and because of our love for Jesus. So on this Valentine Day concider what Revelation calls, "your first love." For those of you who are still fumbling around this universe, bouncing from one thing to the next, wondering what the heck you are doing or supposed to be doing; stop everything you are doing after reading this blog. Go outside, turn your head towards the heavens, talk to God and just say, "thank you...." If you have nothing else to say just acknowledge his glorious creation. If you need to spend more time just talking to Him. Do it!

A Not So Funny Matter

2008-02-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

Taking Greek for four years, one thing I descovered is there is a lot of humor in Jesus teachings. We lose the comedy in translation. One of my favorite stories is found in Luke 20:20-26. The story in short: Jesus is being confronted by religious leaders who are trying to trap him in sin. So they ask him a question, "is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" Those of you who know the story know Jesus responce, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and give to God the things that are God." The point of comedy in the story takes place just before Jesus statement. He asks the religious leaders, "show me a coin. Whose image and name are on it?" At that moment Jesus trapped those who tried to trap him. Any good Jew would have recognized the first commandment, "have no graven images." Here you have so called religious leaders not only carrying a graven image but a graven image with somoenes name on it.

Though this would have been a very funny moment for those standing around watching this event take place. Jesus doesn't leave those watching or us laughing. The teaching moment comes when he says, "Give to Caesar the things thar are Caesar's, and give to God the things that are God." What any good Jew (who had to memorize the entire Torah, especially the opening lines of Genesis 1:1 by the age of 13) would have understoond, "In the beginning God created the sky and the earth." What Jesus was really challenging those in the story and us today is, "what is not God's?"

Do I, Ed Whipple, fully understand that everything belongs to God? Everything?! One of the biggest battles that I face, I know you do to, is the issue of money. One of my faithful adult student leaders talked to me last night about this issue of money. Driving around Stonebridge it is rather obvious people in our community have money. Do I, Ed Whipple, do you, understand that God is entrusting us with this thing we've put so much value in as a culture called money?

Anyone laughing now? Money is no laughing matter. Jesus teaches that it is easier for a camel to go through an eye of needle then it is for a rich person to get into his Kingdom. I know what he means now. I often hold tightly onto my money. That is exactly my issue with money. I believe it is mine. I worked for it. I earned it. Therefore, it is mine.

God, who am I kidding?! All of it is yours! I pray that you change my heart during this season of lent to become a person of Romans 12:1-2. Who no longer looks at money as something that is mine, something that I worked for, something that I earned but yours and yours alone.

Scripture challenges me to love my neighbor as much as I love myself. Am I willing to spend 50% of my income on my neighbor? Are you? Yet again I am using the language that it is my money? God break our hearts so that we begin to see this thing we call money as a tool to build your kingdom. This I pray! Pray with me. Amen!

The Name

2008-02-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

I recall a conversation I had with a friend of mine early on in my ministry years where I had to work three jobs to maintain a living. Between taking orders and slopping coffee around we would get into deep theological conversations. He a non-practicing Eastern Orthodox. Me a Metholic (Methodist/Catholic). It all started when a Jewish friend said in the back kitchen, "Ed, I am bothered by how you refer to God as Jesus!" Knowing he was a practicing Jew I made it a point to share my belief but not back down on my stance. Here enters my Orthodox friend. He stated, "Yea, you even got me saying the name Jesus more then God." A friendship of three different religious backgrounds was born in the back kitchen of that coffee shop.

Bring that conversation up to today and the name that drives me crazy is "Christian." At one point in early Christendom I am sure the name stood on its own as a person who follows and models the life of Jesus. Not so much today. For example. When someone says they are a Christian the very next question to follow is, "what church do you go to?" Being an election year the term "Evangelical Christian" carries more political weight then it does the weight of the cross that crucified our Messiah.

I'm not proposing we ban the word from our vocabulary but I do propose that we need to be in the business of redefining the term by how we live our lives.

Did you know that in early Christendom it was a very common practice for people to have their names changed in recognition of their new faith in Christ. For example Saul changed to Paul. Here in lies the point of our belief in Christ - "change." In order to be a people of change we have to be willing to change and invite others on the journey.

As we approach this season of Lent mediate on these things:
1. Would Jesus call me a follower?
2. How does my life imitate his teachings?
3. Have you ever asked someone to imitate your lifestyle because you know you are imitating Christ? (This is the model of Discipleship Jesus teaches in the Bible).
4. Are any of those people now leading others to model and imitate the life style of Jesus?

Jesus gave us the blueprint of Christianity - following His teachings and inviting others to do likewise. Maybe during this coming season of Lent we don't give something up but take someone on? No, I am not suggesting you make people a project. What I am suggesting is that you love them with the same depth, passion and conviction that Jesus had on the cross.

Now a decade later. My friend who was a non-practicing Eastern Orthodox will receive his rites into Priesthood in the next 2 years. My Jewish friend and I are still in a Bible Study together. He now is part of an organization called Jews for Jesus. In my seven years here at Stonebridge 3 of my former students are pursuing full time Ministry. I am also working with two college students pursuing the idea of full time Ministry. Within our Student Ministry Department we have leaders in Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Young Life, and other religious organizations within their school campuses. I'm not saying these things because I am bragging. I am thanking the Jesus for using me and allowing me to play a brief role in these lives.

What role do you play in redefining the name "Christian?" What role will you play in redefining the name "Christian?"

Blessed Attendee

2008-01-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

I went to Starbucks before Church this past Sunday. My typical routine except that I got a free coffee. The gentlemen in front of me offered to pay in exchange for a little conversation about his Church. He had a great flyer. To be honest I really didn't listen to him much but the gentlemen behind me heard the key phrase, "New Church" and chimed in. I don't remember all the details of his conversation. It was small talk about their classes, programs, studies etc. That's when someone else in Starbucks perked up and stated, "I've been looking for a Church. My family recently moved here in December."
Some may question this guys approach. I questioned if he was a Church Staffer. No matter what we may question at least he is doing something about inviting strangers to his Church in the fastest growing city in America.
I can harp on how we all need to be in the business of inviting people to Church. I believe that you do just that. The problem isn't inviting those you know. It's inviting those you don't know to Church. Just like the ladies at Starbucks there are many families that move into McKinney every day so what are you going to do about it?
What is apparent to me is that we don't have a clear cut plan of Evangelism laid out. From the pulpit to our Small Groups we can encourage you to invite your friends to Church. What we need is a Evangelism plan on how to invite anyone to Church. Is it awkward. You beat! Jesus doesn't ask us to be comfortable He asks us to expand His Kingdom.
Comfort and complacency has ended the growth of many congregations. If we ever subscribe to this theology I am out the door. There has been a team meeting for the past year really looking, praying, and discerning the future of Stonebrige UMC. During the next few months you will begin to hear the Churches "Strategic Plan." This isn't a plan set in stone but a guide to get our congregation out the door and into the world. If you were to ask me its a plan to recognize where we have grown comfortable and complacent and get us working on behalf of God's Kingdom instead of our own.
The big question is what are you going to do about it? Stay in tune because the future of our Church is about to change. It's about to change because there are people like those I met at Starbucks that are still "looking for a Church." The funny part is McKinney is loaded with Churches just look around. These people are not really wanting a Church to attend, they are wanting an authentic experience with Christ and relationships with people to share that experience. So what is the difference? Those who attend a Church don't care if it grows. Those who have a relationship with Christ could careless about what Church they go to but want the entire world to experience Christ in an authentic way. These same people also understand that they may be blessed by God to be just that experience. Which are you? Are you comfortable and complacent? What are you going to do about it?

Half & Half

2008-01-15T12:57:00.000-08:00

My Urban Suburban is not the most gas efficient vehicle on planet earth. I've joked around about Ebaying a "HYBRID" bumper sticker and slapping it on the back of my Burb. On a good day I may get 12 miles to the gallon. It usually hoovers right around 9 mpg in town use and maybe 15 mpg for highway use. A Texas A&M Engineer told me that a vehicle is most efficient when the gas tank is 50/50. I argued with him, not just because he was an Aggie but it seems to me that if your riding on fumes their is less weight in the vehicle. He tried his best to convert me using engineering term I had to later Wikipedia. It made sense in theory but I am an Ockham's Razor man, "all other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best."

Truth be known most of us run our lives like I do my gas tank - "on fumes." We have just enough gas or energy to make it to the next thing. We fuel up, feed ourselves, rest little and off to the next... you fill in the blank. The problem with running on fumes is that you can't go to fast or to far without having to consider where the closest and cheapest gas station may be located. So goes our lives. McDonalds, Starbucks, Chick Fil-e - fill our tanks on the go but when is the last time you've sat down to have a good family conversation and dinner. Note I stated dinner second and conversation as primary. (Did you know that a student who eats dinner with their family on a regular basis scores 400-600 points higher on their S.A.T.)

What about our relationship with Jesus? I often wonder if my faith is running on fumes. There is an old saying that 10% of a Church Congregation does 90% of the work. I've had friends, volunteers, and know of paid staff that leave a congregation because they ran on fumes a little too long. This 10/90 formula bothered a Pastor Friend of mine so much that he made it a campaign to get every person plugged in and serving. Instead of being a 10/90 Church he wanted to be a 90/10 Church. What he meant by that is he foresaw 90% of his congregation serving 10% of the world. He's still working on that goal because he fully believes, and I agree, that it is a gospel mandate to serve.

This is also the same Pastor who called me a "Fat Christian" when I was in college. Not physically fat but fat headed. I had all of Christianity figured out. I knew everything I ever needed to know about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Church. I can talk circles around anyone when it came to the Bible,m Christian History, Theology, and Apologetics (no that's not apologizing about believing in Jesus). He asked me, "so who are you serving?" I did what most students do when they hear a question but needed a second to stall and come up with an answer. I said, "what..." He clarified the question, "who are you serving?" I stalled because I had no answer to such an easy and practical question. He then put me on an assignment to work with the elderly, the mentally challenged, in the jail system, alcoholics, drug users, children, church administrative office, and finally student ministry. He often told me that if I can't explain my faith to these people then all my knowledge I have of God is not knowledge at all but information.

That brings me back to the half & half principle. I believe the challenge for most Christians is to find the right balance between serving and being filled. At Stonebridge UMC we have a plethora of opportunities for you to be filled in your knowledge (or information) about God but we haven't been on the forefront about you serving. We talk about you sharing your faith but that is not serving. Serving is often not a glorious job but someone has to return phone calls, send out letters, help a new family around the Church, picking up trash around the new building, moving furniture, changing lights, etc...

Pastor John picked me up to go to work last week. On our way to the office he shared with me how excited he is about the new "Strategic Plan." In that "plan" are practical ways for people to get "plugged in and serve." Stay tuned my friends. Maybe 90% of our congregation can reach out and serve 10% of this world. Scary thought?! Not if you find your half and half.

Purposeful Space

2008-01-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

A Pastor friend of mine's Church staff had been arguing for over 2 years about needing more classroom space for their growing congregation. Sound familiar anyone?! He started evaluating his office space, use, and purpose. He quickly realized he spent less then 10% of his work time in the office. He also realized the only time he used it was to work on the computer and return phone calls. Later that week during their staff meeting he had his staff evaluate their work space use and purpose for a two week period. He had them review how they used the office space, how often they used the work space, and its purpose. Initially some of the employees were threatened by his "questioning their workspace." Most of the staff (minus the administrative staff) came down to the same conclusion - computer use and return phone calls. Some used their office for conferences and meetings, and other matters that needed to be taken care of behind closed doors but the general consensus was it wasn't an efficient use of space.

This Pastor friend of mine proposed that program staff employees get a laptop, a wireless card, and a cell phone covered by the Church. They decided to keep four Administrative work spaces positioned at various points in the buildings for ministry needs. They converted the remaining 15 offices into classrooms or storage space. The Pastor then told the congregation about the shift that the Church Staff would be making to provide more classroom space for Sunday School Classes, Small groups, etc... The Pastor then asked the Congregation to provide them with a list of all the areas in the community that provided free WiFi so that he and his staff could work more in the community. It was awkward at first for some of the employees who loved having "their space" and now having to work at home, at cafe' shops, and having only one shared office space with a round table for multiple employees to flop there laptop down and work in close quarters. It was also awkward to always be "on call." The Pastor commented, "What difference does it make if someone transfers you a call a minute later or if you get it direct?" In my experience, this field of work requires that you always be "on call" or at least have a back up - "Thanks Volunteers and Sharon."

Our building is going to be open in less then one month. There have already been multiple discussions/suggestions about who is going to be getting what classroom in the new space. People are discussing how the facilities are going to be used and managed. My question for us to wrestle with is, "What is this building's purpose?" More importantly once we define that purpose are we able to transition at a two weeks notice if the need presents itself. The conversations I have had tailor towards sports, recreation, and special events. What about things way out of the box like providing a week of computer or technical training for migrant workers? Maybe we sponsor a week of arts and music where we get educators, music corporations and fine arts sponsors to come out and provide hands on training for students who could never afford the opportunity. The limits are endless. Are we doing these things "in the name of Christ or for our luxury and entertainment?"

So, I sit at one of my favorite places (not the office) using Free WiFi, answering phone calls, watching HDTV (ESPN Sports) and questioning the purpose and most efficient use of space. I can't help but wonder if my space on this planet has been purposeful for God. I wrestle with this and I hope you do to. While wrestling with God consider how the *new building might minister to those who have never experienced Christ. Share those dreams with our staff because if it is just up to us the new building is going to be a very boring place.

(*I am reluctant to call it our building because it truly does belong to God.)

Frustration

2008-01-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

I was watching the Dallas Maverick beat the Miami Heat last night while packing for my hunting trip. I've never played organized basketball, I'm a 5'9" oriental and my people have just recently been taking over the NBA. I've yet to hear of a Phillipino in the league. One thing I observed last night was the defensive game of both team. I came to the conclusion you can't stop the other team from scoring. It's not like hockey where you can body check someone making an offensive play, though that could be a new form of basketball. Defensively you frustrate the offensive person enough to throw them off their game.

I get frustrated over silly things. If you ever see a little kid at McDonald's going through a tantrum it's usually over something miniscule like, I dropped a french fry. Whenever I get frustrated over small things I focus on the big picture and I am brought back to reality. Everyone has a "big picture." For some it is their family, friends, the basic necessities of shelter, food and clothing. For me the big picture is a simple prayer, "God use me." That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less. I can't explain it but it always works. It turns the focus off my current frustration and reminds me that I am part of something much bigger - God's Kingdom.

Jesus describes God's Kingdom with many stories. My favorite is the story from Luke 14:15-24. The story in short goes like this. A man invites all his friends to a banquet. When everything was ready and prepared he invited them to come over. One by one gave an excuse why they couldn't make it. They were truly legitimate excuses but it totally bummed out the guy who wanted to get together with his friends. So instead of letting good food and good times go to waste he basically kicks open his door and screams, "anyone wanna hang out? I've got good food and good times ahead." The story ends questioning his original friends and what it means for them to be a part of God's Kingdom.

Our new building opens February 17, 2008. In many ways the opening is for those of "us" who helped financially contribute to its growth and development. Where will you be a year from now. Like in the parable teaches today, with growth comes change and with change comes loss. Say what?! Think about it. As a church we should expect to see new faces and families dawning the door of this new building for worship, sports, fellowship, programming, events etc... With that growth some will be frustrated that congregations members don't come first or how did these people get access to the building, etc... With that frustrating some will actually leave this congregation because we didn't manage the building in the way "they" wanted it managed. I'm not being critical of this congregation, I am being realistic having worked with different congregations since 1991. The challenge isn't what happens on February 17, 2007 but what will you be doing to help this congregation grow from that date onward.

The kicker in todays parable is that God sends us out to invite everyone to His banquet. Go read it for yourself. We are God's messengers. That means first and foremost that we understand that message. So my questions for you are this: When did you first connect with Jesus Christ? Is that relationship with Christ significant enough to want to share with others? What made you connect with this Church? Is this church significant enough to want to share with others? How have you grown in your relationship with Christ in the last year? Is that growth worth sharing with others? You should be able to answer each one of these questions in 7 seconds or less. It's not overly theological. It's raw, real, authentic. Just the way Jesus was to his followers.

We all have frustrations to contend with but let's be frustrated over the right things. If we are frustrated that there's not enough room, that we didn't treat that guest as well as we could have, that we didn't offer a raw, real, authentic worship service, that we didn't treat each and every guest like they were God himself, etc..., we're dealing with the right frustrations. If you ever get the inclination that you are frustrated because you didn't like a song, didn't like the way the room looked, that you didn't like the service etc... then you are dealing with a personal issue that I say get over it. More importantly I challenge you to do something about it. In the end we are all part of God's banqueting table. If something is out of line with that table someone will fix it. Will you be the one?

Our job as a Church staff is slowly transitioning to be equip and prepare you to do ministry within and beyond these doors. So challenge us to help you grow. Amen! 2008 is looking very good my friends. I'll see you at God's Banqueting table this Sunday.

Authentic Enough

2007-12-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

Two church employees sit together at Cafe' Brazil to discuss church growth issues and I sit caddy corner privy to their conversation. I am usually A.D.D. enough to turn off the voices after a few seconds but the topic at hand deals with the central found in Matthew 28 (your Bible study for the day).

They really have some good program and ministry idea's that I am sure to borrow somewhere down the road but one thought I have is the old nursery rhyme hand gesture. "Here is the Church, here is the steeple, open the door and see all the people."

I was reminded this past fall, "I can be the best Youth Pastor this side of God's Kingdom. I can say the words that lead thousands of people to Christ but I will only authentically connect with 3-7 people from craddle to grave." When I say, "authentically connect" I define that as a friend willing to get in my face for good or for bad and tell me the truth no matter how painful it may or may not be.

This is even found in the ministry of Jesus life. Even though he had thousands upon thousands following him. He only had 12 Disciples and within those 12 Disciples there were 3 within his inner circle - Peter, James, and Andrew. If you read the gospels carefully you'll find these three asking questions of Jesus that you and I wouldn't dare, "Dude, can I sit next to you when you reign in glory?" That's brave but thats how close they were to the Messiah.

Consider your friends? Most probably don't live in McKinney, Texas or your home town. Maybe one goes to Church with you. In your time of need this handful of friends will jump in an airplane, fly half a world away to be with you in an instant. Now count the friends that fall into this category and I guarantee most of us don't need two hands.

So this brings me back to this passionate conversation going on behind me right now. We speak of Evangelism and reaching out and connecting and all these other great Christian words. When it comes down to it faith and friendship go hand and hand. Jesus Christ befriended the entire human race in one act of authentic love - he died for us. Out of my three friends that would come to me in my deepest hour of need I suspect one "might" give their life for mine. I am left to question how authentic I am with those around me? Do I truly love unconditionally or do I have layers upon layers of filters they must pass in order to be within my inner circle?

Yes! Getting people connected to the Church is difficult and these two Pastors behind me are very passionate about making that happen. I am left sipping my cup of java singing, "here is the Church, here is the steeple, open the door and see all the people." Maybe that is the lesson I am learning right now. Maybe I need to open my life up a little more to the world and be a little more authentic. Maybe being authentic means I really mean it! Do I truly want people to come into a loving relationship with Jesus Christ? What about you?

Hot Chocolate

2007-12-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

So I asked the lady at Market Street to "make me the best hot chocolate you have ever made in your entire life." She responded,"that our philosophy with every drink." I love Market Street. They have some of the greatest customer to retailer philosophies that I have ever experienced. I remember when they first opened the buzz was how every customer had an attendant help them carry bags out to their vehicle, no tips accepted. On Saturday's they've Market Street has become a market where people shop and also socialize. There is hardly a time I walk through the store and not see someone from the community or Church that I know. If you ever need help there always seems to be an employee within an isle or two to direct you. Oops. Let me clarify to "take you" to the product. Market Street is in the business of Customer Service and for that they get two thumbs up and 5 stars in my Gazette guide.

I think every member of Stonebridge UMC should be required to go through Market Streets Customer Service training school (if they have one) in order to join the Church. Could you imagine what first time visitors would say about our Church if we had a Market Street approach towards Customer Service. What buzz would our Church create in the community if people are greeted in the parking lot, helped bring kids and strollers into the Church and informed about all the great ministries of our Church, no tips accepted. Imagine Sunday morning Stonebridge UMC being the Worship Central for all of McKinney. No matter where we go Starbucks, gas stations, Ben & Jerry's, dinner, Market Street, there would be people we know from the community and the Church. Imagine Church Members being sprawled throughout the entire Church all wearing T-Shirst that say, "Staff" and on any given Sunday they are available to direct somone.... ooops, I mean, take someone to the right class. Market Street has set the standard for Customer Service in this community. What standard is Stonebridge UMC setting?

I'm thinking my 2008 New Years resolution is to create a team of 100 students and adults who give up one Sunday a month to serve. I imagine 25 people a Sunday wearing T-shirts in the parking lot, in the hallways, serving coffee, walking people to classes, etc... Maybe this team can set a standard of service never experienced before by first time visitors and members.

Making the best hot chocolate they have ever made for one crazy looking oriental is one thing. Ushering in the Kingdom of God is another. I believe the Kingdom of God is a little more important then this hot chocolate.

Wanna join me? ed@mysumc.org

Advent

2007-12-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

The information age we live in has complete revolutionized our way of living. Google, for example, is an amazing tool. Type in any word or phrase and you will find a endless source of information you can read over, decipher, form opinions on and draw conclusion towards some understanding of truth. My only critique of this information age is “information on its own is just that information.”

I can gather statistics about poverty around the world. I can gather information about racism in American Education Institutions. I can compile information about injustice towards woman in the work places but what I do with that information is solely left to my willingness to move forward or not, which is usually the case.

So how does one deepen and develop their faith in the information age? Well, I can do my own Bible study, without plugging into a Bible study group that will keep me accountable. I can do Church by watching some Worship Service on t.v. that I am not a part of, pay tithes to, or help when there are needs. I can even download the latest and greatest Christian Worship songs and have no one to share that joy with or invite others to be a part of.

Maybe the information age is pointing to the problem with Contemporary American Christian Churches – a lack of authenticity, connectedness, and real faith experiences. Before you cry, “not my Church…” Consider the following questions: What are the names of the families that were sitting around you this past week? What part of this past Sundays Worship experience got you so riled up that you can not, not share that message of hope with others (believers or not)? Who in your circle of faith is modeling the type of faith you want to model or you want your husband, wife, and children to model. Finally, and most importantly, are you modeling a faith you want your husband, wife, and children to model?

It’s my contention that we’ve lost the art of Discipleship. Paul the Apostle in his letter to the Corinthians writes,

“Is Apollos important? No! Is Paul important? No! We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work of God gave us to do. I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made it grow. We are God’s workers working together; you are like God’s farm, God’s house.” I Corinthians 3:5-6 & 9

Paul was bold to proclaim that God was using him and Apollos to lead people to a belief in Christ. Paul was bold to proclaim a faith that says, “I am walking the path that God wants and Apollos to walk” and “we are doing the job that God wants us to do.” As a believer are you ready to say, “I want you to model my faith,” “I want you to be invested in the God’s word the way I am,” “I want you to plug into the ministries that I am plugging into because I know God will use us.” “I want you to live life the way I live…”

Maybe this Advent Season we no longer work on preparing our hearts for the coming of the Lord but live out our faith in such a way that God will use us to prepare others who don’t know Him. Maybe I’m being a little to bold.

Clock On The Wall

2007-11-28T13:34:00.000-08:00

A lady walked into Starbucks this morning, cell phone in ear and charisma written all over her by the way she walked and by all the heads that turned to witness her arrival. It’s obvious she’s accustomed to the attention as she talked on the phone letting everyone in the store know of her important business and our invisibility.
She sat down with her café –blah, blah, blah… irritated that her party hadn’t shown up yet. When they did arrive 10 minutes later she was still on the cell phone with her girlfriend, giving them the biggest go to you-know-where look I have ever seen in my entire life. She hung up the phone cussing at them for their lack of promptness ending it with, “! @ # $ do you know what 8:00 means?” I really wanted to clap and say, “Cut Stop action! Take 2” to make the drama complete but she was so mad that she might have thrown her café –blah, blah, blah at me.

The concept of time has been illusive to me since my first mission trip to Juarez many years ago. On that first trip, I had contacted Jose multiple times prior to the trip to set a schedule, double-check the schedule and finalize the schedule. The first morning I demanded that everyone be downstairs by 7:00 a.m. for breakfast. The food wasn’t ready until 7:20. I rushed everyone through breakfast so that we could load up to go to work by 8:00. The Maestros (Work Team Leader) had a special breakfast at 8:30. I had planned that we would work until noon. Take a quick bathroom break and be back on the worksite by 1:30 at the latest. We didn’t leave the worksite until 1:30. We took an hour siesta and didn’t go back to work until almost 4:00 p.m. After the first crazy day I asked Jose Luis about the schedule we set, double-checked, and finalized. He laughed and said, “we’re on Mexico time!”

What you don’t see in the schedule is the 15 year old students we went to pick up in order to help us build the house. The random cousin whose car was broken down that we pushed off the side of the road. The church member who stopped to talk to Jose for over 20 minutes, while 22 of us where piled up in a van that held 12 people. What we often miss in our Franklin Covey Day planned life is time for God and time for real relationships.

I vowed to live on “Mexico Time” in American soil. My lack of schedule includes appreciating people before business. My lack of schedule also includes loving my students after 12:00 on Sundays and before 5:00 p.m. on Wednesdays. My lack of schedule also includes knowing my responsibilities between 8:00-5:00 on a work week and getting them done in that designated time frame or at 2:00 a.m. when I am often most creative.

Living on “Mexico Time” in American soil is very difficult because it seems everyone else puts the clock on the wall before the person in front of them. In a society riddled with “where do I have to be next,” and “will I have enough time to make it to my next appointment” people have little value.

Maybe that is exactly what Jesus meant when he stated, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” Maybe Jesus meant that he is functioning on an eternal time clock where everyone and everything is valued. Maybe, just maybe God is calling us to kick the clock of the wall. Maybe God wants us to be less frustrated screaming, “do you know what 8:00 means” and say, “man, I’m glad you could make it today…” Maybe God wants us to tap into that eternity where everyone and everything is valued because we are eternal beings. Maybe that’s the problem, maybe we don’t recognize that our eternity doesn’t begin the day our clock is kicked off the wall but right here and right now.

So who in your world might need to feel valued? What things are going on in your life where you don’t sense God’s eternal dwelling? When are you going to kick the clock off the wall? Anyone know what time it is? Anyone really care? Anyone really know what 8:00 means? If you do there's a lady at Starbucks who wants an answer.

The Discovery

2007-11-26T13:35:00.000-08:00

I always like to drag students to different places when I am running around town. During the Thanksgiving Holy*day break a student asked me, “So is God really against sex?!” Being the Ed that I am I responded, “Heck! No! He created it and it’s supposed to be awesome.” I think every person in the grocery store tuned into our conversation. Great pre-turkey day conversation! The student responded, “No, you know what I mean. Why is God against teenagers having sex?” [Translation: is it okay if I sleep with my boyfriend or girlfriend over the Holiday break?] Again, being the Ed I am I responded sarcastically, “You know I’ve never read word for word in the Bible that God said, `teenagers can’t have sex?!’ In my continued sarcasm mode I said, “Heck if sex is supposed to be so awesome who cares what you feel like after its all said and done, who cares what your future wife or husband might think.” Again sarcastically, I stated, “If you are really just wanting my permission to sleep with so-and-so you have it. You can even lie to your parents and tell them you’re at Church instead of with your beloved.” Now I know every person in the isle was listening to our conversation.

The student responded, “O.K. I get it. This goes along with your #4 rule.” I replied, “Yes and no… [I have four basic rules for my life that I share on all Youth outings and the students in my ministry can recite them verbatim.
Be where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there.
Don’t be where you are not supposed to be when you are not supposed to be there.
Don’t mess with other peoples stuff.
Respect everything and everyone as God’s creation.]

…all the rules really apply. Why don’t you tell me how.” We walked up and down the isle and the student stated,

“If my heart is where its supposed to be when its supposed to be there I would be thinking about Gods wants instead of my own.
If my heart is not where its supposed to be when its not supposed to be there then I wouldn’t be thinking about my beloved like that.
Don’t mess with another mans future husband/wife.
Respecting everything and everyone as God’s creation is obvious.

Sarcasm works in the right relationships and in the right context. For those who overheard this conversation in passing would have been mortified that a Student Minister is giving teenagers permission to have sex. They don’t know me nor the student I was talking too just what they heard.

This conversation began to make me realize how Jesus got Himself into so much trouble in his days. The Jesus I read was nowhere near as sarcastic as I am but man he sure did make people scratch their heads:
1. To the Rich Young Ruler – Go sale all you have and follow me.
2. To the son who’s father just passed away – Let the dead bury the dead.
3. To the family – Those who are not ready to reject their father, mother, brother and sister for the Kingdom is not ready to follow me.
4. To the Jewish Leader questioning his authority – Hand me the coin [an engraved image or idol] in your pocket and I will tell you where my authority comes.
Yes, Jesus definitely got himself into a bit of a pickle. So much so it cost him his life on a cross. But that my friend is the point. Jesus never gave his Disciples, nor us, a direct answer. He wants us to discover the answer on our own. Those who would have heard Jesus talking to his followers in passing would have been culturally appalled and shocked at His statements.

So I apologize to any who might have overheard my conversation in the grocery store in passing.

I have learned as a Student Minister to never give “yes” or “no” answers to spiritually complex issues. I allow my students to discover the answer on their own. It challenges them to dive into God’s word on their own. It challenges them to wrestle with God on issues that their doofy Student Minister wouldn’t answer. It is in that realm God wrestles back to help them form their own decisions through the guiding of the Holy Spirit.

Are you in a wrestling match with God? Then don’t stop. By stepping out of the ring you tag out of one of the greatest discoveries in your life.

The Power of God

2007-11-21T13:37:00.000-08:00

Pastor Terri is going to be out of pocket this weekend do to illness in her family leaving me to preach at The Bridge this weekend. The current series is entitled, “Transformers: Changed By The Power of God.” Being faithful to this series I will complete what Pastor Terri started, if God so directs us this weekend.

Growing up in a very ummmm… …interesting family there are some words strung together that are difficult for me to say. We all have these statements. For the child that has experienced abandoned by a mom or dad, “trust me” might be a statement with much difficulty. For the child who has had to help an alcoholic or drug abusing parent the words “help me” might have an entirely new connotation. For the child whose parent is always the last one to be picked up at every event, “I’m on my way” might mean “you haven’t even left yet.”

I haven’t felt a word struggle in quite some time but the term “…the Power of God” is one that I am approaching with much fear and trembling. What scripture teaches about “…the Power of God” is often a skewed understanding. How we believers in Christ communicate the phrase, “Changed By The Power of God” has often confused those truly seeking to know and understand the person of Jesus Christ. I’ll preach more on this, this weekend.

My first youth encounters with those using the term, “Changed By The Power of God” came in the context of alcoholics and drug abusers who radically changed their lifestyle when they met the person of Jesus Christ. If you hear a hint of cynicism you are correct. One of these students died 3 years later due to cocaine “relapse.”

Did the Power of God fade or walk away from him? I don’t know but this I have experienced. People who say they believe in God and leave me truly wondering?! Would a believer in the loving Jesus Christ really talk to the lady at Chick Fila like that? Would a believer in the loving Jesus Christ really talk down to their mom or dad that way? Would a believer in the loving Jesus Christ really lie to their child in order to hide their own infidelity?

Maybe the problem is we begin to believer our own words before considering our actions. So for the child whose dad walked away on Thanksgiving dinner, which calls two years later and says, “trust me” but never shows his face won’t believe in trust. For the child who has had to help carry her mom upstairs and into bed because she is smashed from a night of drinking. The words “help me” won’t believe in help. For the child who doesn’t even bother calling their parent anymore but finds their own way home. The phrase, “I’m on my way” doesn’t need to feel abandoned anymore. Our actions do speak much louder than our words.

Have you ever told someone you believe in Jesus? Better yet, do your actions scream of your belief in God? Maybe we need to stop believing what comes out of our mouths and start considering our actions.

Friday, November 23, 2007 will be the biggest shopping day of the year. What will your actions say about your faith?

Live Changed

2007-11-12T13:38:00.000-08:00

A comments I often hear coming out of a mission trip is, “I thought I was going to help these people…” The core of the statement illustrates the power of God’s ability to change lives wherever, whenever and whomever.

“Changing lives” is a theme God has pressed upon my heart during the past four months, more so in the last thirty days. Truth be known. You and I have no ability whatsoever to change peoples lives. Scripture says that is the working of the Holy Spirit. Yes we can help provide care by painting a home, screwing in a light bulb and even building an entire house for the poor, needy and lost. We may even be able to communicate our love for them through acts of service but when it is all said and done change is entirely God’s business. The business of God is personal, deeply personal, at the core of our being personal. So personal we can’t describe or put words to it. God’s business is an overwhelming all embracing recognition and reminder of His love for us. Period.

Once we experience the overwhelming all embracing recognition and reminder of His love for us we can’t but help want to love other. We itch so badly to want to share God’s message of love to the world we can’t go home the same.

“Coming home” was a topic we seriously wrestled with on our most recent trip to Juarez, Mexico. An anxiety begins to stir within the Missionary realizing that they are about to walk into a $100,000 + home after building a 15x20 cinder block home that cost less than $2,500.00. I don’t like generalizations but you get the point. The realization that my one house can build 40 homes in Juarez, Mexico can be an extreme guilt trip. But maybe it’s not about Juarez, Mexico.

Maybe God uses experiences like Juarez, Mexico to remind us that we are called to those who are “poor, needy, and lost.” Have you ever considered why Stonebridge UMC or your Church is parked where it is parked? Who are the truly “the poor, needy, and lost” in our own community? I’m not talking metaphorically but literally? We believe we live in a community that is highly self sustaining, self supporting and self reliant? Yet our community has the second highest foreclosures in the nation (the poor). We live in a community where adults allow students to have alcoholic/drug parties (the needy). We live in a community where our Church has become a place for those who are comfortable enough to walk into a door of a Church (the lost). Again, I don’t like generalizations but you get the point.

Can we be honest about the state of our community? Are we willing to say Jesus, you need to seriously change us today? We are the ones that are poor, needy and lost seeking out your will. And we thought we were the ones going over to Juarez to change lives?

I dream of the day when those on the East side of McKinney can freely walk into our congregation no guilt proceeding because it’s all about Jesus. I dream of the day when those in twelve step programs can worship next to our C.E.O.’s and C.F.O.’s no guilt proceeding because it’s all about Jesus. I dream of the day where those who had one of those nights waking next to a person they don’t know run to the doors of a Church because it’s all about Jesus. I dream of the day our community recognizes the façade we have created called “the American dream” to realize that may not be God’s dream for us.

What dream(s) is/are God calling you to? Will you be faithful?

Ed Whipple is the Director of Student Ministries at Stonebridge United Methodist Church located 1800 S. Stonebridge Dr. McKinney, Texas. He will be preaching this Sunday at 10:45 a.m. November 18, at The Bridge.

Weekend Greeting

2007-10-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

So I put a new Angels and Airwaves sticker on the back of my ghetto urban camouflage suburban. I pulled into a 7-11 in Frisco to get some gas and noticed a guy in a two door Saturn pulling in behind me. I didn’t make much of it until he asked me, “I saw you play last weekend in Denton. Ya’ll did a cover song from Angels and Airwaves.” My response to him was, “uhhh… no I promise that wasn’t me.” He was adamant on his position and kept reiterating “you’ve got the wrong guy.” He wanted my signature and it was at that point I realized the guy was mentally unstable, drunk or high. Coming closer to me the smell of beer was very apparent and it was only 10 a.m.

As most people in this situation your instincts are to get away as soon as possible. Just having left a Youth Pastors meeting I decided to just “stop and listen.” He asked, “If you’re not in a band what do you do?” I told him I was a “Student Ministry Director.” In his drunken state he said, “No way dude. The way you look! What type of church do you go to?” My gut reaction was to say, “like any Church that doesn’t judge people on appearance, lifestyle, or smell.” Deep in my soul I know that not all churches are like Stonebridge UMC that are open, accepting, and inviting to whatever appearance, lifestyle or smell.

I told him, “It’s a great Christian Church…” He cut me off before I even had a chance to finish my thought stating, “yea… I consider myself a good believer in Jesus.” I’m not sure if he was waiting for me to question him about his drunken state or judge him because of his appearance or smell. I didn’t. I just invited him to come Worship with us handing him one of my business cards. I told him to call me and I would sit with him at Church.

It was at that point he said, “I haven’t been inside the doors of a Church sense I was living with my family.” I told him, “my Church is one big family that is trying to figure it out along the way and your totally invited to help us figure it together.” It was at that point I realized I had gotten to him. He said, “Thank you!” We shook hands and he drove off.

I don’t know if he’ll be here this weekend. I am truly left wrestling how this guy will be greeted if he does show up. I want to stand in the parking lot myself to look for his car. Walk him through the Church. Sit with him at Worship and tell him about the Jesus that this is all about. I worry if anyone will talk to him. I worry if people will judge him on his appearance. I wonder if people will avoid him because of his alcoholic smell. I am reminded that Jesus came to those that were smelly, broken, and lost. Why is Stonebridge UMC parked at 1800 S. Stonebridge Drive? I was reminded today that are all smelly, broken and lost. Whether our issues are apparent or we do a great job of hiding them the reality is we truly need Christ and we truly need each other.

So who are you going to greet this weekend? Church planters teach it takes 7 different people to make a first time visitor feel welcome and included. Will you be one of those 7? More importantly will you mean it?

Surely We Can Change

2007-10-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

.">">
Surely We Can Change
David Crowder Band

“And the problem is this we were bought with a kiss
But the cheek still turned even when it wasn’t hit

And I don’t know what to do with a love like that
And I don’t know how to be a love like that

When all the love in the world is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose what our hands will do

Where there is pain, let there be grace
Where there is suffering, bring serenity
For those afraid, help them be brave
Where there is misery, bring expectancy
And surely we can change, surely we can change,
Something

And the problem it seems is with you and me
Not the Love who came to repair everything

Oh, the world’s about to change
The whole world’s about to change.”

“Surely We Can Change” is the last song on David Crowder Band latest album “Remedy.” In the chorus he snuck in The Prayer of St. Francis but more importantly challenges us to “change something.” If each and every believer in Christ is willing to change one thing, the entire world will change. What a challenge! Let’s start now

A Pizza

2007-10-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

I really don’t like pizza. In my profession it’s the first choice of food whenever asking students “what do you want to eat?” A church around the corner serves pizza every Wednesday night. One of our students goes to that Church every other Wednesday because they serve this triangle shaped food product – at least that’s their excuse. I am absolutely sure it has nothing to do with a person they are dating or friends they run with at school (insert sarcasm).

I had three different excuses thrown in my face this morning. It really irked me. To be honest it wasn’t that big of deal. Their reasons were legitimate but I couldn’t help but wonder if at their core there was something much deeper going on? We closed our small group session last night by stating, “The problem is never the problem there is something much deeper going on.”

We all give excuses. In my drive to and fro today I thought hard about excuses I have given for missing meetings, arriving late, or avoiding situations. Being honest with myself things fall into two categories: a). lack of communication – not understand details or b). attitude – I really just didn’t want to go. When it comes to lack of communication I can be better organized but when it comes to attitude I just need to be snapped into line. Yet, we all possess that human attitude of excuses.

As much as I dislike pizza, what makes or breaks a pizza for me is the bread. Thick crust for me – thank you! Students often throw away the tail end of the pizza – yea I’ll snag that piece from them. Now you can decorate your pizza anyway you want. Throughout history every possible meat, fruit and vegetable has topped this round tomato pasted cheesed covered delicacy. In the end what is at the core of the pizza is the bread. What does your pizza look like? What do you cover up? What do you layer on? We all have a supreme pizza façade we wear when we needed. In the end what is at the core of your being.

I am really beginning to understand what Jesus meant in Matthew 5:37 when he said, “let your `yes’ be `yes’ and your `no’ be `no.‘ Anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” I sometimes need an attitude adjustment. No more excuses. Learning to say “no” is much more difficult then saying “yes” then coming up with a likely excuse later. I need to grow in my faith by learning to say “no” and not over committing myself.

I’m going to order a thick crust supreme pizza – “yes, yes!”

Clarity

2007-10-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

With the continual invisible onslaught of ragweed, I’ve had to resort to wearing my 1996 glasses. They make me feel smart but boy are they scratched up. A student asked me yesterday, “why are your glasses so foggy?” I told him “they’re not foggy, they’re scratched up.” Pastor Leslie during a staff meeting last week attempted to clean my glasses only to later realize there’s no hope.

This past Saturday after a group of our students helped Frisco UMC with there Pumpkin Patch, I put on my contacts in and drove North on 75 towards Denton. I can wear my contacts for a period of 8 hours before the ragweed completely dries them out. The ability to see took on an entirely new meaning. The tops of trees were defined. The rows of hay and fields of green contrasted perfectly against the cool air and cloudless sky. The colors were so bright that I wanted to put on my sunglasses, yet I didn’t want to distort the colors flooding into my soul.
It has become apparent that I need to get me new glasses. Seeing out of these distorted, scratched up lenses would no longer suffice. They limit my ability to enjoy the brilliance that this world offers and enjoy God’s awesome creation.

During Pastor John’s sermon this past week he used one of my all time favorite passages, “2 Do not change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.” Romans 12:2

Simply put it’s time to put on the lens of Christ. How do you view this world in which we are called to serve? How do you view your faith in the midst of a busy family/life schedule? How do you view God in times of struggles in frustrations? How do you view your neighbor or your neighbors stuff? How do you view your Church? How do you view your “check book” as John challenged us this weekend?

In my honest opinion we are always in the midst of conversion. Just when we think we’re part of the right small group, doing the right Bible study, serving in the right area. God challenges us to see things in a new way. In some aspects its like we are always looking through scratched up, foggy lenses. Occasionally we are given a new prescription and see God and His creative brilliance in a whole new way.

So whatever is churning in the pit of your stomach right now, do it. God wants you to see Him and His love in a new way right now. More importantly he wants you to share His love with someone else. Because you see in the end, when we take off our personal glasses and put on God’s eyes we can’t help but want to serve those in need. Suddenly all things are made clear.

I gotta go write a letter.

Sabbath Rest. Not This Sunday.

2007-09-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Our first cool front blew in early this week. With that gust of wind came my allergies. According to the allergy isle at Wal-Mart, I’m not the only one. The battle begins! A Claritin-D 24 hour pill works great for me. The reason I call the 24 hour pill is that it literally keeps me awake 24 hours a day until my body gets adjusted to the medication. I just knew if I could make it through last night's Student Ministry program I could go home and crash. After walking and feeding the dog I rolled onto the bed ready to digest the much needed rest my aching body desired. Approximately 10:00 p.m. the first phone call came in and that conversation lasted a good thirty minutes. Meanwhile, I was receiving three different text messages. Modern technology?! I was expecting a phone call from a student who looked very distressed last night. When that call came in, I transferred over and spent a good hour and a half listening to the growing pains that she is facing. Though exhausted, God gave me the strength to listen. I had fully expected to crash after I pressed the “end” button on my cell phone but the endorphins in my brain kicked in and I had to journal thoughts from conversations of tonight. So in the last three days I’ve had about three hours of sleep.

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Genesis 2:2. The staff at Stonebridge UMC works very hard to honor and protect Sabbath days or days of rest. Cindy Moreland comes down hard on staff members who are working on their days off. You can expect the “go home” rant if she sees you attempting to work.

My rest or Sabbath comes down to wholeness! Stop the human doing mode and become a human being again. What makes me whole? Being a minimalist its simple things – sitting outside on a cool day, fishing, hunting, and camping. These activities allow me to engage God’s creation in a Special Ed way. What makes you whole? Sitting with your wife on the couch? Dinner with your family? Talking to your child after a long day of work and school? Walking with a friend? Holding a special someone’s hand? Experiencing wholeness is experiencing holiness. Carefully, consider the things that make you whole (holy) again and you will quickly discover it all comes down to relationships.

“What was said unto the rose to make it unfold?
Was said to me here in my chest to be quiet now and rest.”
~David Crowder

This song verse tells me that, “The mysterious power of God that allows the beauty of a rose to open is the same mysterious power that calls us into a relationship with Him.” When we rest in that experience of love and acceptance everything and I do becomes a Sabbath moment. Find your Sabbath rest this week. Sit with your wife tonight... a Sabbath moment. Eat dinner with your family... a Sabbath moment. Talk to your child after a long day of work and school... a Sabbath moment. Walk with that friend.. a Sabbath moment. Hold that special someone’s hand... a Sabbath moment. In doing these things you will become whole and experience God’s holiness.

It’s time for me to go camping.

From Out Of The Shadows

2007-09-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

I walk my dog during the pre-dawn hour just to catch the sun rise over the horizon. Shadows have always interested me, they are mysterious you never know what could be there nor what beauty could be hidden under its cape. By the time I make my return trip the sun has crested and begins to reveal long shadows from trees and other forms of vegetation. Long beams of light begin to emerge and cut through the cool dew of grass revealing yellow flowers that was once hidden on the very trail I just walked.

Every Sunday morning I am usually one of the first staff members to arrive at the Church. There is a Church member who takes it upon himself to arrive as early as I do to pray over the rows of chairs in the Celebration Hall prior to the 8:15 a.m. Worship service. Last semester their was a High School student who took it upon herself to come up to the Upper Alley on Monday or Tuesday night to decorate the stage. This helped the Upper Alley become a sacred place of Worship for our Wednesday night program. This past Sunday, late in the afternoon, two students helped move chairs, 2 ping pong tables, a pool table, 2 foosball tables, an air hockey table, and cleaned up areas around the Upper Alley.

As far as I can recall these individuals have never asked permission to do these sacred acts of service, they just saw a need and well… filled it. I am thankful for these people, they remind me what our faith is truly about: serving those who have yet to witness or experience the love of Christ. You may say I am making way too much out of a small thing but the reality is the God I love and Worship is about the small things.

There was once this small hole in my life that I tried to fill with questionable relationships, alcohol, contact sports, women, work, hair styles, cars, trucks, snow skiing off cliffs, jumping off mountain cliffs (belay on), bible studies, books, etc. No matter what “I” tried to do to fill that empty space in my life, “I” could never get enough. One day, God revealed His Light and Love for me. At that moment there was a feeling of completeness. No longer was there a hole in my life but a holiness that only God could satisfy.

Reflecting upon my lineage of faith I have never taken into account the people, money time and effort it took to build that small Church in Humble, Texas where the seed of faith was being planted. Nor the people, money, time and effort it took to build Lakeview Christian Camp in Palestine, Texas where that seed of faith began to truly sprout.

Maybe there was a stranger praying over my chair at First UMC in Humble, Texas before I sat there during the first Worship Service. Maybe there was a High School Youth who found it important to make the Youth Room Sacred so that I could experience God in a unique way. Maybe there were 2 students at Lakeview Camp who were willing to prepare games so that those who have yet to meet Christ could first meet other Christians. The potential to serve God at Stonebridge UMC is huge, especially with the development of our new building. What are you going to do? What is going to be your sacred act of service?

Shadows have always interested me. I am curious if you are willing to step out of your shadow and come into the light of God and serve Him? I wonder what beauty lies in the shadows of our growing Church? I wonder what ministries will be revealed as we continue to walk with God. I wonder who God is calling to serve his people. Is it you?

Elephant Nation

2007-08-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the previews? “This fall on CBS. 40 Kids have 40 days to build a brave new world without adults to help or hinder their efforts. Can they do it?” As with most reality T.V. shows, something deep down within us knows this isn’t really reality. At best it’s an edited sociological study on human behavior under controlled settings. If anything we're checking out of our reality to watch another so-called reality show - ironic.

If you really want to know what happens when you remove kids from adults visit Kruger National Park in the mid 1990’s. When the elephants became overpopulated, the National Park decided to cull (professionally hunt) all the adult elephants. Next they relocated over a dozen orphaned elephants to Hluhluwe-Umofolozi National Park. As these orphaned elephants matured, they became highly aggressive toward tourists. Their aggression next turned toward rhinos. Historically, elephants attack rhinos over territorial issues. The elephants at both Kruger and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi National Park were chasing down and killing rhinos. Both National Parks assumed there were one or two elephants responsible for these rhino attacks. So they went to work finding and shooting the culprits. They quickly realized they were wrong and sought international help. Animal Psychologists suggested moving adult bull males into Kruger National Park and instantly the rhino attacks stopped.

So you want to know if the kids can “build a brave new world without adults help…” My answer is “NO!” Go read William Golden’s “Lord of the Flies.” Maybe “Kid Nation” isn’t about building a brave new world but maybe a critique on the world our kids are bravely living in. Students often complain about feelings of isolation and loneliness. I also hear adults say, “I never have enough time with my family.” Maybe Kids are already growing up in their own nation? Consider the shows on television where adults are mostly absent (The O.C.) or where adults who do show up are complete losers (Homer Simpson). Maybe Kid Nation isn’t about 40 days but about you and I.

“The best time to make a change is now,” Dr. Brent Pelphrey would often teach our upper level religious studies course. We can trim time and activities to honor the needs of our elephants so they don’t grow up in Kid Nation. It’s not just an issue of time and activities but being authentic.

We are so accustomed to be human doers that we’ve completely forgot what it means to be a human being. Students don’t want to do! They want to be. Ever wonder why you can’t get them to “do” the dishes, laundry or clean their room. When you call them at their friend’s house asking, “What are you doing?” Their response is often, “Nothing.” It’s because they want to “be” and “be” with other authentic people.

“The best time to make a change is now.” If an elephant can teach us anything maybe we need more authentic adult interaction with the next generation! If you want opportunities to invest in the lives of children or students, we’d be glad to discuss opportunities in our ministries. If our ministries are lacking, we’d be glad to hear your input or direct you to Churches that have those ministries available. In the end, it’s about us being the Kingdom of God and not being entertained by a Kid Nation!