Friday, February 27, 2009
Are you an angry elf?
I think if we're honest we all get irritated by certain things or certain people. We do one of two things at that moment. We either clam up or we blow up. Clamming up keeps a smile on the outside, but allows the feelings to fester on the inside. Bitterness results and it gradually changes our attitude, demeanor and interpersonal behavior.
Blowing up is equally unhealthy. Losing our temper we go off on those around us, belittling others, blaming others, hurting others.
This week has been an interesting week as our staff spent some time reflecting on Romans 14:19 which says, "Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding." What does it mean to pursue peace at all costs?
The scriptures call the peacemakers 'blessed' but unfortunately most people fall in the categories of
Peacefakers- people who are passive aggressive and do the clam up routine, harbor ill feelings and ill will toward others while presenting a loving, peacefilled front.
Others are Peacebreakers- people who blow up, not caring who is hurt in the process.
Peacemaking is something different. It is not avoidance of conflict, but instead, at times embracing and addressing conflict.
So, are you an angry elf? Are you peacefaking or peacebreaking? Who do you need to make peace with this week?
p.s. Anger is the topic of the week this week for the Edge on Saturday night at 6. Come join us!
New Album
The last time I bought a new album was forever ago. For my whole seminary career we have had the services of Ruckus, who without notice shut down a few weeks ago. There went all my free music access.
When I was in high school I spent an insane amount of money on cds. Anything from KISS and Black Sabbath to Smashing Pumpkins and Goo Goo Dolls to DeAnna Carter to Outkast. True story, I had a couple hundred cds of all off the hook music of the day. I even spent 12 bucks on OMC just to own the song "How Bizarre" haha. When I became a Christian, I started to recognize that the music I listened to had a profound influence on my mood and attitude.
The Lord really started to press on me the significant cost that was involved in following him. I decided on the night that I was baptized (by my grandpa, the only righteous guy named O.J. I know) that I needed to get rid of my cds. So with the help of my youth group friends, we had a snapping party. CD after CD, snapped in half and thrown in the trash. Painful.
Nowadays I look for music that is distinctly and creatively hopeful. So I just spent 10 bucks on an album called "Closer to the Start" by Fellowship Church. I have posted one of their songs in the past, here . I am pumped.
Two ways you can go with this one...
1.What is following Christ costing you these days? or
2.Best cd or artist you know of in the "distinctly and creatively hopeful category."?
When I was in high school I spent an insane amount of money on cds. Anything from KISS and Black Sabbath to Smashing Pumpkins and Goo Goo Dolls to DeAnna Carter to Outkast. True story, I had a couple hundred cds of all off the hook music of the day. I even spent 12 bucks on OMC just to own the song "How Bizarre" haha. When I became a Christian, I started to recognize that the music I listened to had a profound influence on my mood and attitude.
The Lord really started to press on me the significant cost that was involved in following him. I decided on the night that I was baptized (by my grandpa, the only righteous guy named O.J. I know) that I needed to get rid of my cds. So with the help of my youth group friends, we had a snapping party. CD after CD, snapped in half and thrown in the trash. Painful.
Nowadays I look for music that is distinctly and creatively hopeful. So I just spent 10 bucks on an album called "Closer to the Start" by Fellowship Church. I have posted one of their songs in the past, here . I am pumped.
Two ways you can go with this one...
1.What is following Christ costing you these days? or
2.Best cd or artist you know of in the "distinctly and creatively hopeful category."?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Lent is here!
Had a good time of refreshment and energizing at church last night for Ash Wednesday.
I had decided that for Lent I was going to give up a meal a day. There are multiple facets to my decision, but at the heart of it is that I am a guy who 'never misses a meal.' I spend a lot of time each day thinking about what my next meal is going to be and I have felt God saying for a while now that He needed to become my portion. I need to hunger for Him.
So at worship last night the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness was one of the texts and "Man can not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" was Jesus' first response to Satan.
I do not really know if I know what it means for God to be my sustenance, my portion, my manna. So this Lenten journey is a plea for God to enter my life in that way.
I also want to begin a movement of solidarity with the people of Kenya who are enduring famine right now. Even when there is no famine, many are hungry. I want to enter into that reality a little bit, though not even remotely close to what they endure daily.
I hope that you take this tradition of Lent seriously and find some way to draw closer to God. What are you surrendering to God or adding to your journey with him for Lent?
I had decided that for Lent I was going to give up a meal a day. There are multiple facets to my decision, but at the heart of it is that I am a guy who 'never misses a meal.' I spend a lot of time each day thinking about what my next meal is going to be and I have felt God saying for a while now that He needed to become my portion. I need to hunger for Him.
So at worship last night the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness was one of the texts and "Man can not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" was Jesus' first response to Satan.
I do not really know if I know what it means for God to be my sustenance, my portion, my manna. So this Lenten journey is a plea for God to enter my life in that way.
I also want to begin a movement of solidarity with the people of Kenya who are enduring famine right now. Even when there is no famine, many are hungry. I want to enter into that reality a little bit, though not even remotely close to what they endure daily.
I hope that you take this tradition of Lent seriously and find some way to draw closer to God. What are you surrendering to God or adding to your journey with him for Lent?
Monday, February 23, 2009
In Sync
Monday night, I was up at the seminary after class hammering out a paper for evangelism class (have I mentioned the end of this quarter is killer?)
I was sitting in the student center which has some booths and a foosball table as well as ping pong and pool. There was a father and daughter in there with me who are from China. The daughter maybe 6 years old was practicing the piano and the father was sort've just hanging out making sure she kept on task.
There was one point where this little girl was tackling a more challenging piece (for a six year old). The father came over and started tapping the top of the piano to keep beat. I looked up and watched the girl who then got on beat with her father and even her little foot which was 6 inches off the ground was tapping in sync with the father.
I felt the Lord whispering about repentance in that moment. Coming clean before the Lord is getting back to in sync with him. Too often we 'march to the beat of a different drummer' but God our Father is seeking for us to synchronize our lives with his.
So where are we getting out of sync? I've been watching a lot of tv lately. This whole having cable for the first time in a few years is enticing. I love to turn on the cavs games and watch and Shaina has made me a sucker for Law and Order, but I can feel myself getting out of sync with the Lord. When it gets down to it, tv is absolutely pointless. In the big scheme of things, there are far bigger purposes out there than us sedating ourselves with stupid entertainment. You know what one of the biggest curses in our culture is? TiVo. I said it. People record hours of shows which eventually they will watch, which means hours of life wasted. They also don't have to be committed to anything. If we can even be non-committal about our tv watching because we are in control, it doesn't bode well for our faith.
God's calling me to be sold out to him, committed to his purposes and his people and I have become non-committal and complacent. What messages do we send future generations when they are more likely to learn their sense of right and wrong from television than from our lives?
Where are you out of sync?
I was sitting in the student center which has some booths and a foosball table as well as ping pong and pool. There was a father and daughter in there with me who are from China. The daughter maybe 6 years old was practicing the piano and the father was sort've just hanging out making sure she kept on task.
There was one point where this little girl was tackling a more challenging piece (for a six year old). The father came over and started tapping the top of the piano to keep beat. I looked up and watched the girl who then got on beat with her father and even her little foot which was 6 inches off the ground was tapping in sync with the father.
I felt the Lord whispering about repentance in that moment. Coming clean before the Lord is getting back to in sync with him. Too often we 'march to the beat of a different drummer' but God our Father is seeking for us to synchronize our lives with his.
So where are we getting out of sync? I've been watching a lot of tv lately. This whole having cable for the first time in a few years is enticing. I love to turn on the cavs games and watch and Shaina has made me a sucker for Law and Order, but I can feel myself getting out of sync with the Lord. When it gets down to it, tv is absolutely pointless. In the big scheme of things, there are far bigger purposes out there than us sedating ourselves with stupid entertainment. You know what one of the biggest curses in our culture is? TiVo. I said it. People record hours of shows which eventually they will watch, which means hours of life wasted. They also don't have to be committed to anything. If we can even be non-committal about our tv watching because we are in control, it doesn't bode well for our faith.
God's calling me to be sold out to him, committed to his purposes and his people and I have become non-committal and complacent. What messages do we send future generations when they are more likely to learn their sense of right and wrong from television than from our lives?
Where are you out of sync?
The Diseases of Comparison and Imitation
People have a bad habit of looking over their shoulder at what the 'other guy' has or is doing. Its the age old comparison dilemma. Cave man one looks at Cave man two and realizes that his fur pelt jacket isn't quite as luxurious as the other guys. Its plagued the world for a long time. It started in middle school with me when I saw all the 'cool kids' getting nike swoosh imprinted clothing and shoes and I had some wimpy knock off. I would make the appeal to my parents that the only way in which I could become cool, was to endorse Nike in all my attire. They didn't buy it...and so they didn't buy it. I had a problem with comparing myself to others and that led to me trying to imitate or emulate them.
We do this in our churches. We are always looking at the 'church down the street' or the hugely successful church in our denomination, or the trendy new church on tv. The problem is that God didn't make clones. He has made each church a unique embodiment of redemption and hope in which that church is to live into. If we are looking at the church down the street and responding to their ministries, all we are doing is competing for sheep. God gives us the ability to adapt what he is doing in other communities of faith to our own context, but he has not called us to be a willow creek church, a saddleback congregation, or any other fill in the blank. So if I am doing something because it is the trendy thing to do, I fail to live out what God has called me to do.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote in Self-Reliance "There is a time in every man's life that he arrives at the conviction that imitation is suicide. He must take himself for better or for worse."
I'm curious, How are you killing yourself these days?
We do this in our churches. We are always looking at the 'church down the street' or the hugely successful church in our denomination, or the trendy new church on tv. The problem is that God didn't make clones. He has made each church a unique embodiment of redemption and hope in which that church is to live into. If we are looking at the church down the street and responding to their ministries, all we are doing is competing for sheep. God gives us the ability to adapt what he is doing in other communities of faith to our own context, but he has not called us to be a willow creek church, a saddleback congregation, or any other fill in the blank. So if I am doing something because it is the trendy thing to do, I fail to live out what God has called me to do.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote in Self-Reliance "There is a time in every man's life that he arrives at the conviction that imitation is suicide. He must take himself for better or for worse."
I'm curious, How are you killing yourself these days?
One Step Closer
Our mission trip to Kenya is slowly nearing reality.
We have secured our plane tickets with a security deposit.
We still have about $10,000 to raise, but God has been faithful at each step and has shown me that when something is stirred up by Him, it will happen.
Here are just a couple neat vignettes of how God is working.
Two weeks ago, I got connected with a former coach of a couple of the young adults going on the trip. His name is Devan and he is a native of Jamaica and has a heart for underpriveleged kids. He is combining his heart for these kids and his skills and passion for soccer and he is going to join us in Kenya and run a soccer clinic for the kids there! With two of our young adults still actively playing soccer, this clinic is a perfect fit.
We found out that leaving on June 17th, which was our original plan resulted in $2500 plane tickets per person. If we moved our departure date up to June 1, it would knock about $1000 off the total per ticket. So we have changed our dates a little bit and will save $11,000! God is good. The bittersweet part is that I will miss my final week of classes in seminary. I will have to get my work done in 9 weeks instead of 10!
If you are curious how you can help us finish our fundraising, you can come to our Mission Auction on March 21. There will be goods like cavs tickets, week long getaways, etc. or services, like piano lessons, graduation party service, etc. to bid on. $15 a ticket and you get some great food and fun.
We have secured our plane tickets with a security deposit.
We still have about $10,000 to raise, but God has been faithful at each step and has shown me that when something is stirred up by Him, it will happen.
Here are just a couple neat vignettes of how God is working.
Two weeks ago, I got connected with a former coach of a couple of the young adults going on the trip. His name is Devan and he is a native of Jamaica and has a heart for underpriveleged kids. He is combining his heart for these kids and his skills and passion for soccer and he is going to join us in Kenya and run a soccer clinic for the kids there! With two of our young adults still actively playing soccer, this clinic is a perfect fit.
We found out that leaving on June 17th, which was our original plan resulted in $2500 plane tickets per person. If we moved our departure date up to June 1, it would knock about $1000 off the total per ticket. So we have changed our dates a little bit and will save $11,000! God is good. The bittersweet part is that I will miss my final week of classes in seminary. I will have to get my work done in 9 weeks instead of 10!
If you are curious how you can help us finish our fundraising, you can come to our Mission Auction on March 21. There will be goods like cavs tickets, week long getaways, etc. or services, like piano lessons, graduation party service, etc. to bid on. $15 a ticket and you get some great food and fun.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Youth Sunday
Our church allows for a Youth takeover in our Sunday Morning worship once a year. Today was the day! Here are some random thoughts/reflections from this service.
1. Teens deal with a lot of 'crap' today. Topics like suicide, pregnancy/abortion, cutting/self-mutilation, drugs/alcohol are more prevalent now than in any other generation. I think back 10 years to my high school days and sex and beer were the 'rebellious choices'. Now there are so many more layers.
2. We, the church have to figure out proactive solutions to these issues. Too often we do not have a voice for hope with these people until they come to us broken.
3. Parents and youth leaders have a huge responsibility to invest in their kids lives and make their homes a fun and welcome place for hanging out so that kids have alternatives to the 'crap'.
4. One of the teens on the worship team had a mountain dew on stage, instead of the normal H2O option. It is good to see someone placing the dew in a venerated position.
5. Teens need to be courageous for the cause of Christ. It seems that every high school kid I know is overwhelmed with all that they are involved in. Sports, music, speech, schoolwork, etc. consume their schedules. I get the feeling that faith in Christ/being involved in youth group is just another 'thing' on their schedule rather than the most important, life giving, life changing thing that they know. This is an indictment on parents, because kids learn habits from those they are connected to. Is your kid seeing the transformative power of good news in your daily life?
I just got wind of this conference that is coming to Orrville. I think parents and teens should go to this together.
1. Teens deal with a lot of 'crap' today. Topics like suicide, pregnancy/abortion, cutting/self-mutilation, drugs/alcohol are more prevalent now than in any other generation. I think back 10 years to my high school days and sex and beer were the 'rebellious choices'. Now there are so many more layers.
2. We, the church have to figure out proactive solutions to these issues. Too often we do not have a voice for hope with these people until they come to us broken.
3. Parents and youth leaders have a huge responsibility to invest in their kids lives and make their homes a fun and welcome place for hanging out so that kids have alternatives to the 'crap'.
4. One of the teens on the worship team had a mountain dew on stage, instead of the normal H2O option. It is good to see someone placing the dew in a venerated position.
5. Teens need to be courageous for the cause of Christ. It seems that every high school kid I know is overwhelmed with all that they are involved in. Sports, music, speech, schoolwork, etc. consume their schedules. I get the feeling that faith in Christ/being involved in youth group is just another 'thing' on their schedule rather than the most important, life giving, life changing thing that they know. This is an indictment on parents, because kids learn habits from those they are connected to. Is your kid seeing the transformative power of good news in your daily life?
I just got wind of this conference that is coming to Orrville. I think parents and teens should go to this together.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Are we a people of prayer?
One the most profound messages I have heard and been challenged by. You cannot skip over this if you are someone who cares about, serves, or works at a church.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Heaven and Hell
so we wrapped up daniel in my our young adult group. It was a good, challenging study that for me at least left more questions than answers. The book is written in two languages, seems at times to be so precise in its prophetic predictions that it must be a book written after the events happened, but it inaccurate in other predictions which suggests it is telling of future events.
We ended in an interesting question/discussion about eternal life (Daniel 12:1-3) This is one of the only Old Testament allusions to resurrection life. We tied that in to Matthew 7 where it talks about the narrow and the wide ways, the house built on rock and on sand and the bad tree and the good tree.
If we read these passages, they sure do seem to indicate that one eternal location is a little more populated than we'd like to think and the other is far less crowded that we anticipate.
So where is the humble urgency? Here is a sermon that my friend Lori sent me. I think it has some challenging pieces to it. Take an hour and instead of watching that law and order episode you've seen countless times, or reading all the lame blogs out there (this one excluded of course), tell me what you think...its directed at youth, but adults are as much in the same boat if not more. (I do have some reservations about this message, but agree with more than I disagree with.)
We ended in an interesting question/discussion about eternal life (Daniel 12:1-3) This is one of the only Old Testament allusions to resurrection life. We tied that in to Matthew 7 where it talks about the narrow and the wide ways, the house built on rock and on sand and the bad tree and the good tree.
If we read these passages, they sure do seem to indicate that one eternal location is a little more populated than we'd like to think and the other is far less crowded that we anticipate.
So where is the humble urgency? Here is a sermon that my friend Lori sent me. I think it has some challenging pieces to it. Take an hour and instead of watching that law and order episode you've seen countless times, or reading all the lame blogs out there (this one excluded of course), tell me what you think...its directed at youth, but adults are as much in the same boat if not more. (I do have some reservations about this message, but agree with more than I disagree with.)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Three glimpses
I hate the Steelers. Here are three separate validations of that hatred that demonstrate their lack of moral compass.
1. Jeff Reed...this sounds like Roid Rage to me.
2. James Harrison...a thug that should lose his paycheck for the superbowl for this.
3. Santonio Holmes (a double whammy...he's a steeler and a former buckeye so I really don't care for him.) the superbowl mvp got caught with weed mid season and got off with barely a slap on the hand.
Maybe the Steelers will get a draft pick this year that has a maturity level beyond 16 years old, like the browns who have a team full of guys that are so polite and gentle, they don't even tackle them on the football field haha.
1. Jeff Reed...this sounds like Roid Rage to me.
2. James Harrison...a thug that should lose his paycheck for the superbowl for this.
3. Santonio Holmes (a double whammy...he's a steeler and a former buckeye so I really don't care for him.) the superbowl mvp got caught with weed mid season and got off with barely a slap on the hand.
Maybe the Steelers will get a draft pick this year that has a maturity level beyond 16 years old, like the browns who have a team full of guys that are so polite and gentle, they don't even tackle them on the football field haha.
I dig my wife
I have been down for the count this week. Some sort've bug that has wiped all my strength and has left me pretty miserable all week. I spent pretty much all day Friday in bed. Shaina, my lovely lady proceeds to have a work day from 6-2, gets home and takes care of my sorry butt (including whipping together an impromptu dinner, then was out the door to go to Wadsworth to help oversee a catered wedding reception dinner. She was home at 9:30 (I'd already been asleep in bed for nearly 2 hours) and she was up and out the door for work again Saturday shortly after 5 a.m. But she still managed to have a Valentines Day card on the counter for me when I woke up at 7.
I don't know how she does it, but I am thankful for her. This morning she is back at work again. Meanwhile, I continue my return to the living.
And here I am, a guy who views it as a major life sacrifice to sit down with her and watch a chick flick or food network. haha.
If you're married, what do you dig about your spouse? If you are looking forward to being married some day, what quality is the most desirable for your spouse.
I don't know how she does it, but I am thankful for her. This morning she is back at work again. Meanwhile, I continue my return to the living.
And here I am, a guy who views it as a major life sacrifice to sit down with her and watch a chick flick or food network. haha.
If you're married, what do you dig about your spouse? If you are looking forward to being married some day, what quality is the most desirable for your spouse.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The 7 Day Valentine Challenge?
Well, are you in?
Haha. the positive? this church is engaging in a conversation that most in our culture are having whether we want to admit it or not.
The negative? You tell me. Gimmicky? Racy? Inappropriate?
Regardless, I think you and your spouse should do this challenge. I am going to go persuade Shaina lol. Happy Valentines Day!
Haha. the positive? this church is engaging in a conversation that most in our culture are having whether we want to admit it or not.
The negative? You tell me. Gimmicky? Racy? Inappropriate?
Regardless, I think you and your spouse should do this challenge. I am going to go persuade Shaina lol. Happy Valentines Day!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Hosea
I am in a small class at seminary that is engaged in the study of the book of Hosea. The book is challenging in a lot of ways.
It is challenging in terms of its language. The original Hebrew text is complex in spots with difficult vocabulary. There are even sections where I am able to translate every word and still have no idea what it is saying.
It is challenging theologically. God calls Hosea to marry an adulterous woman. What does this do to our understanding of God?
It is challenging devotionally. The main gist of the book is that Assyria is coming for Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and that Israel will undoubtedly perish if they seek for aid from anyone but God. But time and time again, they forget God and pursue other lovers.
Perhaps the greatest insight into this book that I have gained so far is that we cannot be too quick to jump to Gomer (Hosea's adulterous wife), who represents Israel. Instead, if we linger on this call from Hosea's perspective, it unlocks a powerful message. Our sin, my sin, your sin is devastating to God. And while we continually play the whore, God begins to woo us, to seduce us, to draw us to himself. This is a love affair. Those who would deem that the OT is Law and the NT is love and grace have not truly read the OT.
Truth be told, I am an adulterer to the Lord. I fill up my time, my schedule, with appointments, meetings, ministry opportunities, seminary classes and schoolwork, but I do not spend time with the deep lover of my soul. I have been that guy to lift my hands in worship on Sunday morning when I haven't lifted my eyes to his gaze all week. I do not trust God for things like attendance at an Africa fundraiser. There are times where I'd rather withdrawal and watch a cavs game on tv than sit in the company of God's people. God has ransomed me and I've forsaken him. Yet that gentle wooing (Hosea 2), that scandalous seduction of the Most High God will not let me escape.
So, reality check...how are you a whore?
It is challenging in terms of its language. The original Hebrew text is complex in spots with difficult vocabulary. There are even sections where I am able to translate every word and still have no idea what it is saying.
It is challenging theologically. God calls Hosea to marry an adulterous woman. What does this do to our understanding of God?
It is challenging devotionally. The main gist of the book is that Assyria is coming for Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and that Israel will undoubtedly perish if they seek for aid from anyone but God. But time and time again, they forget God and pursue other lovers.
Perhaps the greatest insight into this book that I have gained so far is that we cannot be too quick to jump to Gomer (Hosea's adulterous wife), who represents Israel. Instead, if we linger on this call from Hosea's perspective, it unlocks a powerful message. Our sin, my sin, your sin is devastating to God. And while we continually play the whore, God begins to woo us, to seduce us, to draw us to himself. This is a love affair. Those who would deem that the OT is Law and the NT is love and grace have not truly read the OT.
Truth be told, I am an adulterer to the Lord. I fill up my time, my schedule, with appointments, meetings, ministry opportunities, seminary classes and schoolwork, but I do not spend time with the deep lover of my soul. I have been that guy to lift my hands in worship on Sunday morning when I haven't lifted my eyes to his gaze all week. I do not trust God for things like attendance at an Africa fundraiser. There are times where I'd rather withdrawal and watch a cavs game on tv than sit in the company of God's people. God has ransomed me and I've forsaken him. Yet that gentle wooing (Hosea 2), that scandalous seduction of the Most High God will not let me escape.
So, reality check...how are you a whore?
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
sigh.
This has been a rough couple of weeks. Internet is still not working at home. I need your prayers. I've hit a wall and I really need to bust through it to 1) take care of the things that need taken care of with moving into a new place as well as pay attention to the car and truck issues we are currently having. 2) battle through my school work and persevere. 3) be upheld in ministry to accomplish what is necessary as opposed to what seems urgent.
How can I pray for you?
How can I pray for you?
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