So I called this blog bumbling forward...Bumbling is generally how I move forward. Tripping falling, grabbing onto stuff to try to stay up, knocking other stuff over but when it is all said and done I usually end up ahead of where I started.
Case and point: Unbeknownst to me, somewhere along the way I did something to my blogger settings that made it necessary for me to approve each comment. Gail was talking to a friend who mentioned she had commented and I was all like "no she didn't." So I started poking around and found the source of the problem. She did indeed comment as well as 18 others.
To those of you gracious enough to comment please accept my humble apologies. If nothing else Bumbling forward is always an adventure.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
When everything is said and done: Too close to home
okay...so three days after I write the last post I taught during our Sunday morning gatherings. The message I prepared was about Jesus as the image of the invisible God. In order to get the best picture of God we need to enlarge our view of Jesus to include his birth, life, message, ministry, death and ressurection. The message was heavy with visuals, scripture on the screen, and a video of various artist's depictions of Jesus.
Our first service starts at 9:00 am at 8:58 am after an hour of rebooting and reconfiguring and tweaking and guessing and switching cables I was unable to get any sort of image from the computer that runs our service to the screen. As I thought back to my post and the article that motivated it, I said "okay God...if want me to do this without any of the stuff I had planned then so be it." One last ditch effort...and it worked. At 9:01 the announcement loop started running and the service started.
God's got one sick sense of humor...
technorati tags Church marketing sucks
Our first service starts at 9:00 am at 8:58 am after an hour of rebooting and reconfiguring and tweaking and guessing and switching cables I was unable to get any sort of image from the computer that runs our service to the screen. As I thought back to my post and the article that motivated it, I said "okay God...if want me to do this without any of the stuff I had planned then so be it." One last ditch effort...and it worked. At 9:01 the announcement loop started running and the service started.
God's got one sick sense of humor...
technorati tags Church marketing sucks
Thursday, February 16, 2006
When everything is said and done
I found this thought regarding creating church experiences on Church Marketing sucks.com.
Technorati Tags church church marketing sucks
What great questions! I'm not sure if I have great answers. These questions are great filters to evaluate what we do in the name of ministry.Yet the questions remain: How much should I do? What should I avoid? What is cool? What works?
Here's a simple approach I've learned...
If the electricity went out, and your walls fell down, and your biggest givers died, what would you have left? Would you have a community of people still seeking after the heart of God? Would you still worship even without a band? Would you still be able to learn about God even though you can't show a video or a PowerPoint slide? In other words, what you have when everything else goes away is what your church is really all about.
Technorati Tags church church marketing sucks
Monday, February 06, 2006
tag of 4s
Erin over at Biscotti Brain Posted this nifty little tag. Here are my responses:
Four Jobs I've Had:
1: Greens Keeper
2: Bank Teller
3: Sales guy (Consumer paper: toilet paper, paper towels cups plates, etc)
4: Youth Pastor
Four Movies I Watch Over and Over Again:
1: Godfather (only part 1 or 2)
2: Braveheart
Only those 2
Four Places I've Lived:
1: Connecticut
2: Pennsylvania
3: Arkansas
4: Ohio
Four TV Shows I Watch:
1: Lost
2: Scrubs
3: Rescue Me
That's about all I have time for
Four Places I've Vacationed:
1: St Maarten
2: Finger Lakes, NY
3: White Mountains, NH
4: Cape Cod, Mass
Four Websites I visit daily:
1: woot
2: Music for Robots
3: spiritual-formation.com
4: Pandora.com
Four of My Favorite Foods:
1: Steak
2: Penne a la vodka
3: Apple Pie
4: Big D cheeseburger from Duchess
Four Places I'd like to be right now:
1: Fully Here
2: The White Mountains
3: Cape Cod
4: "Sitting on a beach earning 20%" (said in a german accent)
Slink, Greg, Tracie, Uncle Ward...if you guys haven't done this yet feel like playing?
Four Jobs I've Had:
1: Greens Keeper
2: Bank Teller
3: Sales guy (Consumer paper: toilet paper, paper towels cups plates, etc)
4: Youth Pastor
Four Movies I Watch Over and Over Again:
1: Godfather (only part 1 or 2)
2: Braveheart
Only those 2
Four Places I've Lived:
1: Connecticut
2: Pennsylvania
3: Arkansas
4: Ohio
Four TV Shows I Watch:
1: Lost
2: Scrubs
3: Rescue Me
That's about all I have time for
Four Places I've Vacationed:
1: St Maarten
2: Finger Lakes, NY
3: White Mountains, NH
4: Cape Cod, Mass
Four Websites I visit daily:
1: woot
2: Music for Robots
3: spiritual-formation.com
4: Pandora.com
Four of My Favorite Foods:
1: Steak
2: Penne a la vodka
3: Apple Pie
4: Big D cheeseburger from Duchess
Four Places I'd like to be right now:
1: Fully Here
2: The White Mountains
3: Cape Cod
4: "Sitting on a beach earning 20%" (said in a german accent)
Slink, Greg, Tracie, Uncle Ward...if you guys haven't done this yet feel like playing?
Friday, February 03, 2006
On finding a pastoral response
There is a string of posts and responses swirling around Brian Mclaren's article in Leadership journal. The article, I believe, was meant to focus on a pastor's response, i.e. how does one respond in love and concern to a defining question, such as homosexuality. I do not believe Mclaren intended to answer the actual biblical interpretation of same sex relationships.
Mark Driscoll's response has also garnered alot of attention.
As has McLaren's reposnse to Driscoll's reposnse. Got all that?
I am fairly confident that God's plan from the begining has been for monogomous realtionships between one man and one woman.
That being said, I appreciate and resonate with Mclaren's choice of the word "agonize," in his original article. I agonize over the separation I may have just put between God and someone in a same sex relationship by the first sentence of this paragraph. I agonize over memories of conversations where I have communicated what I believe to be the truth of God's word regarding same-sex relationships and have failed to communicate the truth of God's grace for us all, straight or gay. I agonize over not knowing how to communicate disagreement with someone on something as defining as sexuality while still communicating respect, love and concern. I agonize over the occasions where I feel like I have done all I can to communicate respect, love and concern and what was perceived was none of the above.
Is it possible to disagree with someone on an issue as defining as their sexuality and still be perceived as caring and loving and interested and concerned? Must we choose between grace and truth?
Technorati Tags: brian mclaren mark driscoll
Mark Driscoll's response has also garnered alot of attention.
As has McLaren's reposnse to Driscoll's reposnse. Got all that?
I am fairly confident that God's plan from the begining has been for monogomous realtionships between one man and one woman.
That being said, I appreciate and resonate with Mclaren's choice of the word "agonize," in his original article. I agonize over the separation I may have just put between God and someone in a same sex relationship by the first sentence of this paragraph. I agonize over memories of conversations where I have communicated what I believe to be the truth of God's word regarding same-sex relationships and have failed to communicate the truth of God's grace for us all, straight or gay. I agonize over not knowing how to communicate disagreement with someone on something as defining as sexuality while still communicating respect, love and concern. I agonize over the occasions where I feel like I have done all I can to communicate respect, love and concern and what was perceived was none of the above.
Is it possible to disagree with someone on an issue as defining as their sexuality and still be perceived as caring and loving and interested and concerned? Must we choose between grace and truth?
Technorati Tags: brian mclaren mark driscoll
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
What have I learned blogging: Tech stuff
As I think about blogging and why I participate in it, it occurs to me that I haven't learned so much in short period of time since college. And the stuff I have learned blogging I am actually remembering. There is this sum of knowledge that I have been able to gain from blogging that falls into two categories: Tech stuff and ministry in the way of Jesus. Then there is the personal and relational growth that has come with blogging. This post is devoted to the Tech stuff.
All the links below are courtesy of other bloggers, mostly those in the list to the left in my blogroll. I should have kept track of where I found these links or learned about these concepts.
In the tech arena, I have discovered software like FireFox, my browser of choice and Open Office, an open source productivity suite that is fully compatible with MS Office Writeboard, is an online collaborative writing tool complete with RSS feeds to keep track of updates. Speaking of RSS feeds, I can't imagine trying to keep up with any ongoing conversation without a feedreader or aggregator. Gail's laptop has FeedDemon on it, which I paid and I use a free Firefox extension called Wizz RSS.
I have learned some actual html code. I discovered podcasts and actually created a podcast for the weekly messages from Crossroads. I bumbled upon the concept of Web 2.0. As a result of a blog recco, I now have two flickr accounts: one for friends and family kinda stuff and one for ministry stuff.
The above are just the highlights I'm not sure I could ever recreate everything that I have gained from blogging.
tags:blogging tech
All the links below are courtesy of other bloggers, mostly those in the list to the left in my blogroll. I should have kept track of where I found these links or learned about these concepts.
In the tech arena, I have discovered software like FireFox, my browser of choice and Open Office, an open source productivity suite that is fully compatible with MS Office Writeboard, is an online collaborative writing tool complete with RSS feeds to keep track of updates. Speaking of RSS feeds, I can't imagine trying to keep up with any ongoing conversation without a feedreader or aggregator. Gail's laptop has FeedDemon on it, which I paid and I use a free Firefox extension called Wizz RSS.
I have learned some actual html code. I discovered podcasts and actually created a podcast for the weekly messages from Crossroads. I bumbled upon the concept of Web 2.0. As a result of a blog recco, I now have two flickr accounts: one for friends and family kinda stuff and one for ministry stuff.
The above are just the highlights I'm not sure I could ever recreate everything that I have gained from blogging.
tags:blogging tech
Why venture into the blogosphere?
I have had a couple of real-world conversations in the last week about blogging. The conversations were with non-bloggers. The questions posed to me ran the full length of the gamut from, "What is a blog? to Why do you blog? to Don't you think putting your thoughts and feelings out on the internet will come back to bite you?"
I have always kept those black marble composition notebooks. They are filled with thoughts and ideas, prayers and complaints, dreams and nightmares; basically just the the stuff that rattles around my brain. My blog(s) have just turned into an extension of those notebooks, I guess. Occasionally, someone will comment on something I have to say but that is more the exception than the norm.
Truthfully, I spend much more time reading and commenting on the blogs of those who are far smarter and way more insightful than I. There have been times in the past when I have posted something out of guilt. I did not/do not wanting blogging (or the insights and thoughts of others) to become one more thing that I consume. Those posts are usually worthless and if I went back and read through all my old posts I could probably pick those out with out much effort.
My posts usually consist of thoughts that aren't fully formed. Thus, the "bumbling" part of the title. I process better when I write things out. I guess it forces me to think things through. Take this post for instance, now I am asking myself why I blog?
tag(s): blogging
I have always kept those black marble composition notebooks. They are filled with thoughts and ideas, prayers and complaints, dreams and nightmares; basically just the the stuff that rattles around my brain. My blog(s) have just turned into an extension of those notebooks, I guess. Occasionally, someone will comment on something I have to say but that is more the exception than the norm.
Truthfully, I spend much more time reading and commenting on the blogs of those who are far smarter and way more insightful than I. There have been times in the past when I have posted something out of guilt. I did not/do not wanting blogging (or the insights and thoughts of others) to become one more thing that I consume. Those posts are usually worthless and if I went back and read through all my old posts I could probably pick those out with out much effort.
My posts usually consist of thoughts that aren't fully formed. Thus, the "bumbling" part of the title. I process better when I write things out. I guess it forces me to think things through. Take this post for instance, now I am asking myself why I blog?
tag(s): blogging
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Good Day
Today was a good day.
Hung out with my 4 year old for a couple of hours in the a.m. (who has been rather ornery lately due to a parentally imposed ban from all movies, tv shows and video games related to Star Wars but was not so today) then off to my buddy Slink's for Cheeseburger subs and XBOX.
Like I said it was a good day.
Hung out with my 4 year old for a couple of hours in the a.m. (who has been rather ornery lately due to a parentally imposed ban from all movies, tv shows and video games related to Star Wars but was not so today) then off to my buddy Slink's for Cheeseburger subs and XBOX.
Like I said it was a good day.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
On forgiveness
In a few weeks, I will be attending the Emergent Theological Conversation
at Yale. In preparation I have been reading Miroslav Volf's Exclusion and Embrace. Oh my aching brain!!! It's been a while since I have had to keep a dictionary next to me while reading a book. It's defintely been worth the effort though.
Volf has got me thinking alot about forgiveness or more correctly a lack thereof. Using Christ as the example Volf writes, " the victim who refuses to be defined by the perpetrator, forgives and makes space in himself for the enemy," the thought challenges me. By not forgiving those who harm us, hurt us, wrong us, we empower them further. Whatever resides in us where forgiveness belongs is a further product of the perpetrator. The original harm is magnified and continued by our own lack of forgiveness. Instead of the common misperception, my own misperception, of somehow forgiveness being a symbol weakness, it is indeed one of strength. Forgiveness is taking control of that which formerly controlled us. I think....
at Yale. In preparation I have been reading Miroslav Volf's Exclusion and Embrace. Oh my aching brain!!! It's been a while since I have had to keep a dictionary next to me while reading a book. It's defintely been worth the effort though.
Volf has got me thinking alot about forgiveness or more correctly a lack thereof. Using Christ as the example Volf writes, " the victim who refuses to be defined by the perpetrator, forgives and makes space in himself for the enemy," the thought challenges me. By not forgiving those who harm us, hurt us, wrong us, we empower them further. Whatever resides in us where forgiveness belongs is a further product of the perpetrator. The original harm is magnified and continued by our own lack of forgiveness. Instead of the common misperception, my own misperception, of somehow forgiveness being a symbol weakness, it is indeed one of strength. Forgiveness is taking control of that which formerly controlled us. I think....
Monday, January 09, 2006
Own no property?
Andrew Jones has been posting a single thought per day from Bruce Larson and Ralph Osborne's The Emerging Church at Our Daily Blog. Below is today's quote:
"Consider the possibility that a church should own no property at all"
In many ways this idea appeals to me. No mortgage, significantly lower overhead, money can be put toward other things...
What if the the local geography is dotted with white clapboard buildings and steeples? What if the local context is heavy on traditional denominations? What if a church in a school or YMCA (gasp!!) was just too non-tradtitional for a traditional area? What if a building made it easier for some one to investigate a particular church because it simply looked like a church?
What if being in a public space placed a community of faith in the middle of everyday life? What if people stopped by just because they saw a sign or flyer or poster when they dropped their kids off for an afterschool progam?
I know the issues: financial, legitimacy in the eyes of a cynical public, faith traditions of the local geography, being apart of everyday life. I don't know the answers.
Anybody else?
"Consider the possibility that a church should own no property at all"
In many ways this idea appeals to me. No mortgage, significantly lower overhead, money can be put toward other things...
What if the the local geography is dotted with white clapboard buildings and steeples? What if the local context is heavy on traditional denominations? What if a church in a school or YMCA (gasp!!) was just too non-tradtitional for a traditional area? What if a building made it easier for some one to investigate a particular church because it simply looked like a church?
What if being in a public space placed a community of faith in the middle of everyday life? What if people stopped by just because they saw a sign or flyer or poster when they dropped their kids off for an afterschool progam?
I know the issues: financial, legitimacy in the eyes of a cynical public, faith traditions of the local geography, being apart of everyday life. I don't know the answers.
Anybody else?
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Comments
I have gotten rid of my haloscan comments. Any comment older than four months was being held hostage by haloscan. Older comments get archived and are released from the archives only when you upgrade to a premium membership. For those of you who been gracious enough to comment here I still have acces to your thoughts but the rest of the world does not. Sorry about that!!! I'm done screwing with the template. So please feel free to comment without the fear that your thoughts will lost again.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Recent bumblings
Over the last couple of weeks traditional "quiet times," I really despise that term, (a friend from a long time ago used to wield the term like a spiritual sledge hammer) have been few and far bewteween. My bible reading has been specific to preparations for messages or research. My prayer time has been more of the spontaneous kind than scheduling 1/2 an hour to spend with God.
At the same time, I feel like I have known God's presence more in the last weeks than ever before. As I prepared Christmas Dinner for friends and family, I was moved to pray over the food I was preparing and the people who would hopefully enjoy it. And I became acutely aware of God's presence both in the work of my hands and in my prayers. Racing from dropping my son off at school, to the mall, to a meeting, I knew God's presence.
I'm not advocating a departure from the disciplines of seeking God. Without the disciplines, we severely limit our ability to learn, to grow and to experience God. What I am learning is awareness to, access to and experiencing God is not limited to a 30 minute "quiet time." He is bigger than that....
In what "surprising" or "normal" or "everyday" places or events have you seen, felt or experienced God lately?
At the same time, I feel like I have known God's presence more in the last weeks than ever before. As I prepared Christmas Dinner for friends and family, I was moved to pray over the food I was preparing and the people who would hopefully enjoy it. And I became acutely aware of God's presence both in the work of my hands and in my prayers. Racing from dropping my son off at school, to the mall, to a meeting, I knew God's presence.
I'm not advocating a departure from the disciplines of seeking God. Without the disciplines, we severely limit our ability to learn, to grow and to experience God. What I am learning is awareness to, access to and experiencing God is not limited to a 30 minute "quiet time." He is bigger than that....
4There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4: 4-6 NIV
In what "surprising" or "normal" or "everyday" places or events have you seen, felt or experienced God lately?
Friday, December 30, 2005
The right of God...
This is something I have been turning over in my head for while. It started as a message/conversation with some high school folks.
While he was on earth Jesus exhibited his power over the things of this world; wind and rain, loneliness, sickness, classism, racism and sexism. In his resurrection he exerted his power over death. So Jesus offers us the gift of forgiveness in the shape of the cross and offers us the gift of life, the life God intended for us here and now and life eternally with Him in heaven, in his resurrection.
How do we take hold of those gifts?
In Jesus' own words: “Follow me.” Follow Jesus, oh man, I'm gonna have to change, I'm gonna have to become all churchy, I'm gonna have to be sad and mope around and pray and stop having fun. Huh??? What????
So what does “Follow me” mean? I think Jesus himself answers this question in Matthew 6
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well
Matthew 6:32-33 NIV
Our jobs as followers of Christ is to seek first the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God?
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God. And other people will approve of you, too.
Romans 14:17 NLT
For the Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk; it is living by God's power.
1 Cor 4:20 NIV
Follow me is not necessarily saying the right things. Follow me is not necessarily doing the right things. It is much more than that. Those who thought they were saying the right things and doing the right things, the religious leaders of Jesus' day, were missing the point. To many of them, the appearance of kingdom of God did depend right action.
In Luke 17, a group of these religious leaders asked Jesus when they should expect the kingdom of God. He said don't look here or there. Look within. The Greek for within means the soul or the very deepest part of who we are. The meaning of the term for kingdom is not a literal physical kingdom rather the right to exercise authority or rule over.
The Kingdom of God, might roughly be defined as the right or authority of God to rule over the very deepest part of who we are.
At the very deepest levels of who we are God wants to be there. What's there now?
Other people's opinion's of us?
The pursuit of worldly desires?
Is it fear?
Depression?
Boredom?
Arrogance?
What is it that is ruling over the very deepest part of us? Following Jesus needs to be about a daily turning over of the deepest parts of who we are to God. This needs to be our concentration; making room in our soul for the God who loves us, died for us and rose from the dead for us.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Catching up!!
It's been slightly over 2 weeks since my last post. It has been quite the whirlwind two weeks at that. I got to teach at our Sunday Morning services on 11/27. Here is the link if you want to have a listen. The message that morning was on Philippians 3: 10-17, Pressing on and finishing the race.
Two days later, we left to meet my in-laws at Disney, the most "magical" place on earth. Gail and I spent our honeymoon there and we ventured back a second time to catch up with high school friends. It was a much different experience this time. Seeing and experiencing that place through the eyes of my 4 year old and 7 year old was something else. Almost too much. The guys, suffered from serious sensory overload. Jared fell asleep at lunch on two different occasions, once he actually dozed off mid-sentence. Jake's favorite part was the Indiana Jones stunt show which we did twice and Jared's was the Star Wars, Star tours ride, which we did 3 times. (Gail bowed out on round 3). It was one of those vacations you need a vacation from. It was great to see my brother-in-law for the first time in over year. He and Gail's sister Karen were great sports when either Jake, Jared or I had one of our moments. I think my highlight from the trip was the dinner all the adults got to share at the Artist's Point restaurant while the boys hung out in the Cub's Den. The food was great, the wine was outstanding and the company and conversation made the meal.
We returned to the cold and snow of the Northeast. I really don't like Kennedy Airport, but I don't want to start ranting. Friday the 9th, we got our first serious snow of the year.
Even though I work out of the house and the snow has no real bearing on my ability to do my job I still love a snow day. We knew it was coming, so we rented a couple of video games and movies, purchased the fixins for gravy (that's the red kind) and stoked up the wood stove. It doesn't get much better than that.
The 11th was Gail's birthday. Special occasions are tough for us when they land on a Sunday. I was out of the house by 6:00 am. At least 5 people got to wish Gail a happy birthday before I did when I finally caught up with her in the hallway at church. After set-up, two services, take down and a student ministry leadership meeting, I wasn't home until 4:00. We celebrated that night with some Italian take out and cake.
And....I think I'm caught up.
Two days later, we left to meet my in-laws at Disney, the most "magical" place on earth. Gail and I spent our honeymoon there and we ventured back a second time to catch up with high school friends. It was a much different experience this time. Seeing and experiencing that place through the eyes of my 4 year old and 7 year old was something else. Almost too much. The guys, suffered from serious sensory overload. Jared fell asleep at lunch on two different occasions, once he actually dozed off mid-sentence. Jake's favorite part was the Indiana Jones stunt show which we did twice and Jared's was the Star Wars, Star tours ride, which we did 3 times. (Gail bowed out on round 3). It was one of those vacations you need a vacation from. It was great to see my brother-in-law for the first time in over year. He and Gail's sister Karen were great sports when either Jake, Jared or I had one of our moments. I think my highlight from the trip was the dinner all the adults got to share at the Artist's Point restaurant while the boys hung out in the Cub's Den. The food was great, the wine was outstanding and the company and conversation made the meal.
We returned to the cold and snow of the Northeast. I really don't like Kennedy Airport, but I don't want to start ranting. Friday the 9th, we got our first serious snow of the year.
Even though I work out of the house and the snow has no real bearing on my ability to do my job I still love a snow day. We knew it was coming, so we rented a couple of video games and movies, purchased the fixins for gravy (that's the red kind) and stoked up the wood stove. It doesn't get much better than that.The 11th was Gail's birthday. Special occasions are tough for us when they land on a Sunday. I was out of the house by 6:00 am. At least 5 people got to wish Gail a happy birthday before I did when I finally caught up with her in the hallway at church. After set-up, two services, take down and a student ministry leadership meeting, I wasn't home until 4:00. We celebrated that night with some Italian take out and cake.
And....I think I'm caught up.
Monday, November 28, 2005
a new life emerging: Please Stop It.
this is definitely worth the read.
My thoughts are far too muddy to try to write. thoughts????
My thoughts are far too muddy to try to write. thoughts????
Sunday, November 20, 2005
argh!!!!
A friend, who runs our children's ministry, asked me to put together a little slideshow from a recent Sunday morning event. No problem...Import photos into iphoto, import song into in itunes, mix well, kick the whole thing over to iDVD then burn...15-20 minutes tops. 4 1/2 hours later I was still at it. I couldn't figure out, for the life of me, why the discs wouldn't play in our DVD player.
I sat back, took a deep breath and in a startling moment of clarity I remembered I had my ipod hooked up to the computer to charge. I really don't know why this would effect a DVD burn but I unplugged said ipod and tried again. Bingo!!! It worked.
I bumbled into bed at roughly 1:30 am, only to have get up a mere 4 hours later to start my Sunday. Needless to say I am iexhausted. Getting sleepy... eyes closing... very cranky...nite nite.
I sat back, took a deep breath and in a startling moment of clarity I remembered I had my ipod hooked up to the computer to charge. I really don't know why this would effect a DVD burn but I unplugged said ipod and tried again. Bingo!!! It worked.
I bumbled into bed at roughly 1:30 am, only to have get up a mere 4 hours later to start my Sunday. Needless to say I am iexhausted. Getting sleepy... eyes closing... very cranky...nite nite.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Unexpected gift
I received an unexpected gift two nights ago. I was at fundraising banquet for a friend who is on Young Life staff. Fortunately, I got to sit next to an old friend named Nick.
Our wives were making small talk with the folks sitting on either side of them. Nick leaned in real close to me and in whispered tones started telling me a story about something he and his wife recently went through. He described to me how they could see the effects of spiritual warfare in their lives, how they dealt with it and how they could see God's hand moving when they dared to live the life God intended; really a very cool story.
The coolest part though is Nick himself. I met Nick 12 years ago when he was a high school student. He started coming to a young life club we were running. Over time, he came to know and follow Christ. What an amazing thing to think back 12 years ago and then to sit there and listen to this man tell me stories about God in his life.
How I wish, every person who invested time in, reached out to, and hung in there with a high school student could have a conversation like the one I had with Nick.
Our wives were making small talk with the folks sitting on either side of them. Nick leaned in real close to me and in whispered tones started telling me a story about something he and his wife recently went through. He described to me how they could see the effects of spiritual warfare in their lives, how they dealt with it and how they could see God's hand moving when they dared to live the life God intended; really a very cool story.
The coolest part though is Nick himself. I met Nick 12 years ago when he was a high school student. He started coming to a young life club we were running. Over time, he came to know and follow Christ. What an amazing thing to think back 12 years ago and then to sit there and listen to this man tell me stories about God in his life.
How I wish, every person who invested time in, reached out to, and hung in there with a high school student could have a conversation like the one I had with Nick.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Celebration of discipline 6&7-Simplicity & Solitude
I have combined my thoughts on chapters 6&7 because I needed to catch up. But as I went through Foster's chapters on Simplicity and Solitude (silence) I realized it makes sense to discuss them together. Foster's take on Simplicity and solitude comes down to a matter of trust.
Trust as it relates to Simplicity seems, well, a fairly simple concept. We entrust our possessions to God. We trust that God will provide, we trust that God will care for our stuff and we trust that if we give our stuff away God will honor our act of sacrifice.
Trust, as it relates to solitude, IMHO is a more complicated matter. It is trust indeed that that allows us to embark into solitude. Foster tells us that solitude and silence go hand in hand. Here is where the trust comes in: "We are so accustomed to relying upon our words to manage and control others. If we are silent who will take control? God will take control; but we will never let Him take control until we trust Him. Silence is intimately related to trust."
So...Do I trust God? With my possessions? I have good days and bad days. When money is tight I am much more likely to say, "okay God I'll take the wheel for a little bit."
This is one where I could really see Jesus looking at me and saying, like he said to the disciples, "Are you still dull?" He has provided for my family in miraculous ways, time and time again. And yet I still feel like I need control over my finances.
Do I trust God? With my silence? When it is just me and God, I have grown to really enjoy these times of silence. More to Foster's point, however, when there are others involved I am much more likely to break the silence. I attribute part of this to leaders I have worked and served under up to this point. Each of them very dynamic, outspoken, often opinionated men who lead with their words. At some level, I feel compelled to a more verbose leadership style. It often feels awkward and not at all my style. The rest is exactly like Foster describes. I often speak to control and influence those around me. I speak to make sure people leave me with the impression I desire. I need to trust God with my Silence.
If I can do that, I think I could actually be a more effective leader, husband, friend, father. If I were to concentrate on my silence I would be likely to "say what needs to be said when it needs to be said." I would hear more of what people are trying to say to me. People might leave with the impression that God desired rather than the one I desire.
Trust as it relates to Simplicity seems, well, a fairly simple concept. We entrust our possessions to God. We trust that God will provide, we trust that God will care for our stuff and we trust that if we give our stuff away God will honor our act of sacrifice.
Trust, as it relates to solitude, IMHO is a more complicated matter. It is trust indeed that that allows us to embark into solitude. Foster tells us that solitude and silence go hand in hand. Here is where the trust comes in: "We are so accustomed to relying upon our words to manage and control others. If we are silent who will take control? God will take control; but we will never let Him take control until we trust Him. Silence is intimately related to trust."
So...Do I trust God? With my possessions? I have good days and bad days. When money is tight I am much more likely to say, "okay God I'll take the wheel for a little bit."
This is one where I could really see Jesus looking at me and saying, like he said to the disciples, "Are you still dull?" He has provided for my family in miraculous ways, time and time again. And yet I still feel like I need control over my finances.
Do I trust God? With my silence? When it is just me and God, I have grown to really enjoy these times of silence. More to Foster's point, however, when there are others involved I am much more likely to break the silence. I attribute part of this to leaders I have worked and served under up to this point. Each of them very dynamic, outspoken, often opinionated men who lead with their words. At some level, I feel compelled to a more verbose leadership style. It often feels awkward and not at all my style. The rest is exactly like Foster describes. I often speak to control and influence those around me. I speak to make sure people leave me with the impression I desire. I need to trust God with my Silence.
If I can do that, I think I could actually be a more effective leader, husband, friend, father. If I were to concentrate on my silence I would be likely to "say what needs to be said when it needs to be said." I would hear more of what people are trying to say to me. People might leave with the impression that God desired rather than the one I desire.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Darth Jared
We celebrated my younger son Jared's 4th B-day this week. It was a Star Wars birthday; the gifts, the decorations, and the cupcakes. (Gail is an accomplished cake/cupcake decorator.)
The highlight of the b-day festivities was the Darth Vader Voice Changer. The thing spouts out quotes from the movie, does the heavy breathing bit and morphs your voice into a James Earl Jones replica.
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