Early in my ministry I mentioned to my senior pastor that ministry is fun and should be fun. Sure, there are times when we are dealing with difficult times but even then, God's grace and mercy blesses. Mostly though, when we are reaching out to others with the Good News, it's actually fun. Unfortunately, that view was discouraged.
I was reminded of this yesterday when my church submitted two floats in our city's holiday parade. One was a scene of the nativity with the bell choir playing "Joy to the World" and other religious seasonal music. Our second float was our youth puppet team doing a Veggie Tales Christmas. Both were well received in the parade. The real joy of the event came for us walking on with the floats passing out candy and promotional flyers. Looking people in the eyes, and wishing them a Merry Christmas and a "God bless you" was such a joy. Most people answered with a thank you and some a "God bless you." Most everyone smiled and were blessed. It was a small thing but we reached out with God's Word and we were all blessed. It was rewarding and that is what also made it fun.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Gifts and Talents
God has created us all very unique. How sad that we usually do not name the wonderful talents with which He has blessed us. We go through life feeling inadequate rather than thankful for how we were created. We are amazing! It is amazing what we do naturally without even giving it a thought. And because we don't give it a thought, we don't realize just how wonderful it is...how wonderful God is...how wonderful He created us.
No more. Not in our congregation. We'll work at it. Defining our gift, talents and envisioning how we can release them to glorify God because He's the one who is the source of it all.
No more. Not in our congregation. We'll work at it. Defining our gift, talents and envisioning how we can release them to glorify God because He's the one who is the source of it all.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Related to Relevance is Variety
There are a variety of ways in which what is Godly relevant finds its way into our lives. I'm always amazed by how God touches our lives. Who would have thought that an island girl (Bahamas) living in Florida would be absolutely enthralled with country and western. Every time I think about her dressed in blue jeans, cowboy boots and hat, line dancing with a bunch of country boys and girls similarly dressed makes me joyously laugh. She meets with a C&W church group every Sunday night to worship and praise God and then enjoy one another's company. God is amazing. So here are the cowboy Ten Commandment as sent to me by this island girl.
The Cowboy Commandments
1. Just one God.
2. Put nothin' before God.
3. Watch yer mouth.
4. Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
5. Honor yer Ma & Pa.
6. No killin'.
7. No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.
8. Don't take what ain't yers.
9. No telling tales or gossipin'.
10. Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff
Pretty simple. Pretty straight forward. Pretty relevant. God's Word just lasts and lasts and lasts...
The Cowboy Commandments
1. Just one God.
2. Put nothin' before God.
3. Watch yer mouth.
4. Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
5. Honor yer Ma & Pa.
6. No killin'.
7. No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.
8. Don't take what ain't yers.
9. No telling tales or gossipin'.
10. Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff
Pretty simple. Pretty straight forward. Pretty relevant. God's Word just lasts and lasts and lasts...
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Contemporary Message Is So Predictable
I drove to the Appalachian Trail with three junior high girls in my car. I listened to the pop music of these young teens all day. The contemporary message is so predictable. Its extent is shocking. The longing is the same...for love, fullness in life, meaning, purpose. The secular answer is always the same...has been since the dawn of human history: Sexual titillation and expression; money and possessions; people used as a commodity to make one happy. The depth of emptiness is amazing.
One song, the newest by Eminen and Rihanna, "Love the Way You Lie," is about a violent relationship between a guy and a girl, obviously not married but living together. That fact in itself would have been shocking only a few decades ago. Now the depth of depravity in the relationship doesn't even raise an eyebrow...the teens sing it out without even realizing what they are affirming. The melodic chorus Rihanna sings is:
"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well, that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
We'll that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie"
Each verse grows successively more violent till the last verse where he promises to tie the girl to the bed and light the house on fire if she ever tries to leave again. The song ends with her singing the chorus melodically:
"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
One song, the newest by Eminen and Rihanna, "Love the Way You Lie," is about a violent relationship between a guy and a girl, obviously not married but living together. That fact in itself would have been shocking only a few decades ago. Now the depth of depravity in the relationship doesn't even raise an eyebrow...the teens sing it out without even realizing what they are affirming. The melodic chorus Rihanna sings is:
"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well, that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
We'll that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie"
Each verse grows successively more violent till the last verse where he promises to tie the girl to the bed and light the house on fire if she ever tries to leave again. The song ends with her singing the chorus melodically:
"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
Well, that's alright because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry
We'll that's alright because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie"
Another song spoke of "bullet proofed" hearts that have been broken never again to be susceptable to love because true love is "impossible." Yet another sang the praises of finding completion of life in another person as in "I need someone to love." The worst deception is in a half truth. It is true that we need someone to love but that need can only be satisfied by loving God.
2 things - How could we ever think that our lives could ever be completed by another imperfect human being with an ego of their own trying to satisfy their own needs and not ours? AND more importantly why would anyone want to be the person upon whom such a responsibility is placed? As if we could be a god who can give such completion to another person. Definitely looking in the wrong place.
What is shocking is that this empty meaningless clatter is being honored. This contemporary message of an old old lie is glorified and too many have become deaf to its sound. Open our ears, O Lord, to the true Word that lasts and lasts and lasts....
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tales from the Trail
I returned from five days on the Appalachian Trail Saturday with 15 teenagers in tow. The common reaction usually indicates some kind of mental condition on my part for wanting to spend 9 days away (3 on the road, 5 on the trail and 1 at the base camp) with all these teenagers. At first I was surprised by the reaction. I came to understand that this kind of comment presumes that the teens are all so self indulged that there is nothing of substance and all fluff. But the teens are great. Get them away from all the electronics and the superficiality of modern culture and together we become "real."
That's it. We are so engaged by the superficial that we hardly recognize what is really real and what is manufactured real. We think we "neeeeeed" all kinds of things when in fact all the things simply end up controlling our lives. We spend so much time with the things that we forget what it is really like to encounter what is really real.
You know, we stink! We actually have BO. No, that is not unnatural. That is natural. We can climb mountains, walk 45 miles, push through hurting feet and knees and accomplish so much more than we thought we could. We can actually entertain ourselves and each other without looking into a screen of some sort but rather look into each other's eyes. We can talk, laugh, play games, tease, joke and laugh some more. We can break bread together, share experiences, share our thoughts, questions and perspective. We can be real without any pretense formed by designer clothing, cologne or perfumes, or ranking. We can discover who we really are as God created us to be.
Rather than being formed by "the world," we can be formed by "The Word," a Word that goes on and on and on forever.
That's it. We are so engaged by the superficial that we hardly recognize what is really real and what is manufactured real. We think we "neeeeeed" all kinds of things when in fact all the things simply end up controlling our lives. We spend so much time with the things that we forget what it is really like to encounter what is really real.
You know, we stink! We actually have BO. No, that is not unnatural. That is natural. We can climb mountains, walk 45 miles, push through hurting feet and knees and accomplish so much more than we thought we could. We can actually entertain ourselves and each other without looking into a screen of some sort but rather look into each other's eyes. We can talk, laugh, play games, tease, joke and laugh some more. We can break bread together, share experiences, share our thoughts, questions and perspective. We can be real without any pretense formed by designer clothing, cologne or perfumes, or ranking. We can discover who we really are as God created us to be.
Rather than being formed by "the world," we can be formed by "The Word," a Word that goes on and on and on forever.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Open Happiness
I was watching TV the other day. I rarely watch commercials because I have TIVO and I usually click through the commercials. But for some reason I was watching live TV. WOW! That is a real oximoron. At any rate, I was watching TV and since I did not previously record the program I had to watch the commercials. Well, really, I walked to the kitchen but since a counter top is the only thing that separates the kitchen from the family room, I was still watching the commercial. There was something enthralling about it as commercial have to be today to capture our shortened attention span.
It was a commercial for one of the cola products, either Coke or Pepsi. I don't remember and it is really not important except to the advertisers and the company which I would neither want to promote. The point is that the by-line of the commercial was "Open Happiness." WHAT! Open Happiness! You have got to be kidding. Popping the tab on a cola product is going to bring you happiness? Really!
That is how superficial our society has become. I think I'm going to become depressed. NO! Because I know a Word that lasts and lasts and lasts...and will never lose its fizz.
It was a commercial for one of the cola products, either Coke or Pepsi. I don't remember and it is really not important except to the advertisers and the company which I would neither want to promote. The point is that the by-line of the commercial was "Open Happiness." WHAT! Open Happiness! You have got to be kidding. Popping the tab on a cola product is going to bring you happiness? Really!
That is how superficial our society has become. I think I'm going to become depressed. NO! Because I know a Word that lasts and lasts and lasts...and will never lose its fizz.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Relevance and Meaning
What are the themes around which you structure your life? They are often hidden behind unreflected behavior but are observable to anyone who knows you. Have you ever wondered why an individual behaves in a way that is obviously offensive or destructive but does not change. It is very possible that the individual is not even aware of the dynamic because the theme is hidden behind unreflected behavior.
For example, on which side of the duality, self - other, do you fall. Do you tend to be primarily concerned with your own wants and needs or are you aware and concerned about the needs of another? Our culture certainly directs us to focus on ourselves and to great success. Long term relationships tend to fail because one or both of the "loved ones" are more in love with themselves than with the other person they are "in love" with. It is like two egos vying for supremacy each playing the part of a demigod in their relationship requiring that their needs be met even at the detriment of the other.
On which side of the duality, individual - community, do you fall? Do you really think that CDO's (Credit Default Swaps) would have been created by some ingenious financial guru who knowingly and purposefully put together failing mortgages, reaping billions of dollars in the process, causing the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression, if he had cared a lick about the community? Reflect upon your own behavior. How much of your time and effort do you put into your community and how much into self? In what direction do your dollars flow?
Our culture says that what is relevant and meaningful in life is found within humanity. You are the focus. You should get everything you want. You deserve it. Self-expression, fulfilling your needs, securing your rights is what is important and relevant and and from which we derive meaning. From this perspective other people are important only in as much as they make you feel better, if they meet your needs. Even helping your neighbor is considered a function of your own well being. You do it if it makes you fell better. Otherwise, not so much.
Self, individual rights, self-expression, needs all centered in humanity are not the only themes around which we can structure our lives. Besides, these themes fail and ultimately lead to anarchy. This self-centeredness plays itself out on Wall Street, in violent oligarchies, and sadly in families all over this globe.
There is another way to live. We can structure our lives around a Word that lasts and lasts and lasts...
For example, on which side of the duality, self - other, do you fall. Do you tend to be primarily concerned with your own wants and needs or are you aware and concerned about the needs of another? Our culture certainly directs us to focus on ourselves and to great success. Long term relationships tend to fail because one or both of the "loved ones" are more in love with themselves than with the other person they are "in love" with. It is like two egos vying for supremacy each playing the part of a demigod in their relationship requiring that their needs be met even at the detriment of the other.
On which side of the duality, individual - community, do you fall? Do you really think that CDO's (Credit Default Swaps) would have been created by some ingenious financial guru who knowingly and purposefully put together failing mortgages, reaping billions of dollars in the process, causing the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression, if he had cared a lick about the community? Reflect upon your own behavior. How much of your time and effort do you put into your community and how much into self? In what direction do your dollars flow?
Our culture says that what is relevant and meaningful in life is found within humanity. You are the focus. You should get everything you want. You deserve it. Self-expression, fulfilling your needs, securing your rights is what is important and relevant and and from which we derive meaning. From this perspective other people are important only in as much as they make you feel better, if they meet your needs. Even helping your neighbor is considered a function of your own well being. You do it if it makes you fell better. Otherwise, not so much.
Self, individual rights, self-expression, needs all centered in humanity are not the only themes around which we can structure our lives. Besides, these themes fail and ultimately lead to anarchy. This self-centeredness plays itself out on Wall Street, in violent oligarchies, and sadly in families all over this globe.
There is another way to live. We can structure our lives around a Word that lasts and lasts and lasts...
Monday, June 28, 2010
Related to Relevance
Related to relevance is meaning. What is meaningful? What gives meaning and purpose to life? I remember watching the Oprah Winfree show some years ago (dare I admit that I once watched Oprah regularly). Her guest was a toy collector. He bought toys, kept them in their boxes and stored them on metal shelving units in a large air conditioned building. Row after row of toys of all kinds. Oprah asked him why and flippantly he said, "He who has the most toys wins." For him leaving behind a large collection of toys that he had never enjoyed provided meaning. What meaning, I'm not quite sure, but there it was.
The search for meaning and relevance is so strong that we can find it in even the silliest places, like toy collections. Folks do make grander attempts at meaningful lives, some with awesome success. The Pharaohs constructed monuments and preserved their bodies so that they even survive today. Remember the "lost" Pharaoh that was found in a museum on the Canadian side of Niagra Fallsa a few years ago? I saw that mummy while it was still unknown. It looked ragged and I thought, how sad for what was once a living human being to be put on display like some oddity. So much for monuments that eventually crumble and turn into dust.
The most meaningful and relevant legacy is probably a very soft product, something that will last only a lifetime. Helping another human being. Whether it is providing food for a family that would likely go hungry, digging a well in some arid land so a small community of people can have portable water, or just listening to someone who needs a shoulder, those are the actions that have real meaning and relevance in life. The bible tells us to use our worldly wealth to help others. There is a lot of wisdom in that.
Still, meaning and relevance to be truly meaningful and relevant requires something more. A Word that will last and last and last... What can that Word possibly be?
The search for meaning and relevance is so strong that we can find it in even the silliest places, like toy collections. Folks do make grander attempts at meaningful lives, some with awesome success. The Pharaohs constructed monuments and preserved their bodies so that they even survive today. Remember the "lost" Pharaoh that was found in a museum on the Canadian side of Niagra Fallsa a few years ago? I saw that mummy while it was still unknown. It looked ragged and I thought, how sad for what was once a living human being to be put on display like some oddity. So much for monuments that eventually crumble and turn into dust.
The most meaningful and relevant legacy is probably a very soft product, something that will last only a lifetime. Helping another human being. Whether it is providing food for a family that would likely go hungry, digging a well in some arid land so a small community of people can have portable water, or just listening to someone who needs a shoulder, those are the actions that have real meaning and relevance in life. The bible tells us to use our worldly wealth to help others. There is a lot of wisdom in that.
Still, meaning and relevance to be truly meaningful and relevant requires something more. A Word that will last and last and last... What can that Word possibly be?
Saturday, June 26, 2010
About Relevance
I continue to think about what is relevant. I suppose if you were building a house information about design, foundations, structural support, plumbing, electrical systems and data integration would all be relevant information. If you have something that you need to do you find relevance in the material that addresses the topic.
But what about the topic of life. What is relevant to living life? I'm alive. I live. My life has a past, present and future regardless of what actions I take or don't take. I go through stages and life cycles without any conscious intentionality about it at all. It just happens. The specific needs and concerns of my life continually change depending on what life stage I'm experiencing. History leads me to believe that I'll have a similar experience in my future.
So what is relevant in this ever changing life lived? Is it my unique needs at the different stages of my life that dictate relevance? Is there anything relevant to life at all or is it just one experience after another? Is there something that makes life itself totally relevant for each and every moment of this continually moving life? Is there a Word that makes all of this relevant? A Word that lasts and lasts and lasts...?
But what about the topic of life. What is relevant to living life? I'm alive. I live. My life has a past, present and future regardless of what actions I take or don't take. I go through stages and life cycles without any conscious intentionality about it at all. It just happens. The specific needs and concerns of my life continually change depending on what life stage I'm experiencing. History leads me to believe that I'll have a similar experience in my future.
So what is relevant in this ever changing life lived? Is it my unique needs at the different stages of my life that dictate relevance? Is there anything relevant to life at all or is it just one experience after another? Is there something that makes life itself totally relevant for each and every moment of this continually moving life? Is there a Word that makes all of this relevant? A Word that lasts and lasts and lasts...?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Learning Curve
OK, so this is my first blog. Well, not quite since I wrote a bunch of stuff years ago like life stories and biblical reflections that I put up on a website. It wasn't called blogging back then. I know ancient history in the blog-a-sphere. Anything over 15 minutes old is beyond our ability to remember or care about.
So here I am again trying to make myself relevant in a world where relevance is relevant. Content, not so much. Wisdom, only if it is relevant to one's current immediate situation. And I'm not trying to make "myself" relevant. Only trying to find a way to make what is really relevant relevant in a world where everything is irrelevant if it is not immediately applicable.
Trying to get the Word out that once you get it, all the distractions like reading blogs are not needed. Where something richer, deeper than immediate stimulation, entertainment or self gratification soothes the savage soul with a Word that lasts and lasts and lasts.......
You're not ready to hear it yet. Your ears are not yet open. There are still too many distractions. You have to wait. And I'm not ready to give it to you. This is a learning curve. Remember?
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