Good Friday Thought

Yesterday (Good Friday) was an interesting day here in Southeastern Minnesota. It was the first full day of Spring, two days before Easter, a time when you're brain is starting to thinking of warm sun and flowers starting to poke their heads out of the ground. Instead we got about 5 inches of snow. Not really the weather I would typically envision for a Good Friday.

Yet, as I thought about it a little bit, it seemed like perfect weather for symbolizing Good Friday. You see it was one of those "warm" snows, with big giant flakes. On the one hand, because it was snowing there was a certain chill in the air. On the other hand it was about 34 degrees with calm winds so it was actually kind of warm. (Okay, so if you're reading this from somewhere like CA or AZ you might think it odd that 34 would be considered warm, but you need to understand we've had a good number of days below zero this winter so 34 begins to feel warm.)

Good Friday, is a "celebration" that is filled with both cold and warmth. It is a time that we in the church gather to remember the day that Jesus hung on the cross and died. There is a cold pain in death, especially of one we love. Yet, in the midst of the chill of death there is a certain warmth to the day as well as we are reminded of Jesus' great love for us... that he died on that cross "For You!"... "For Me!"... "For All!"

Gospel of Avodart

I do believe it is the Avodart commercials that say, "It's not a going problem, but a growing problem." As I look at the readings for this coming Sunday, which really ultimately resonate through every Sunday, I see once again that call to go. The women show up at the tomb, they are scared, and Jesus says, "Go." How many of us are filled with fear, especially when we hear Jesus' call to "Go"?

It's understandable, this call to ministry is scary. It's understandable because we live in a world filled with fear. We've cultivated a culture of fear. Over the past weeks we've heard lots of gloom and doom coming from Wall Street. Over the last several years politicians have been running on a platform of fear. "Don't let the terrorists win, elect me!" they proclaim. We hear regular reports of predators on "Nightline," Dateline," and "20/20." Fear surrounds us everywhere, so it's natural to be scared. We can't compartmentalize fear, it just sort of creeps throughout all of our lives.

So what do we do to confront this fear? Our instincts make us think we need to grow in faith. Yet, like becoming a parent, are you ever really ready? Are you ever prepared enough? Honestly, as a father to be, can I ever read enough books to prepare me for what will happen with my child? I just need to go and experience being a father to really understand what that means. Likewise, are we ever really fully prepared for anything life may bring our way?

See, I think what we've got going is a situation similar to an Avodart commercial. "It's not a GROWING problem, but a GOING problem." Jesus' solution for the fear the women faced was to tell them to "Go and tell." When faced with this fear we are called to mission, to evangelism, to "Go and tell." That doesn't mean the fear goes away, I don't know if it ever really does (because if it's not one thing we fear, then it's another). However, we can learn to live through the fear. We have the promise that when we go God goes with us. We have the promise that when we go God goes before us. So GO!

Passion Sunday Sermon

Brief as it may be, here is my sermon from Passion Sunday. We tried to allow the readings to do the preaching.

Leadership Fine Line

This morning I was watching the Today Show and the Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, was on talking about the state of the economy. I have to admit I was struck some by his comments in light of some of my desires for leadership. He did what so many in the Bush administration do well, and that's portraying an air of confidence and calm.

Our church council has been reading the book, "Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times" by Peter Steinke. One of the things we talked about in there is the need to be a non-anxious presence. It is important for leaders to be calm and confident when confronted with anxiety. When we confront anxiety with anxiety we just raise the level of anxiety. When we confront anxiety with non-anxiety we tend to diffuse the anxiety.

So then, I see this clip posted below. It didn't feel quite right. Take a look and see what you think.




I think it is good that he is attempting to diffuse the anxiety by not being anxious himself and projecting an air of confidence. The problem that I see (and feel free to disagree with me here) is that by projecting this confidence it comes off almost as arrogance because it feels like there is a denying of reality.

It got me to wondering, do I have the same problem sometimes? Perhaps in being non-anxious as a leader I also need to be clear that I recognize the reality of the situation. It seems, then, that we need to be both confident and realistic. So how do we find that balance? I can't say that I have any great answers, but I do recognize that it is critical for leadership.

Play

Honestly, I think we take ourselves too seriously. It's about time we start having more fun. We read or hear reports about schools cutting things like physical education, art, music, and now even social studies because we need to focus on improving test scores (which are Math, Science, and English). Interestingly it feels like the more we cut these things the more test scores seem to drop. What's the connection? The things getting cut are fun, playful sorts of activities (with maybe the exception of social studies). I think we need to play more at school, both in the classroom and at recess.

I don't think this is just a problem for kids, though either. I work in a church so consequently I hear on a regular basis how mainline denominations are fading, falling apart, or any number of other ways of describing the same decline. What do we have in common? One of the things I see is a common tradition that pushes us to be more and more serious (devout? pious?) and say things like, "We don't do that around here." Why not? It might be fun. I think (and I may be wrong here) that we all like to have fun and laugh. When looking at any sort of "singles scene" what is one of the most common things people are looking for? A sense of humor. We as adults need to play as well.

I think maybe that's why I liked the post I came across last week. (You can read it here.) In essence it suggested that we need to take play more seriously. When is the last time you "cut loose" and just played? When was the last time you were silly just for the sake of being silly? When is the last time you laughed at yourself? These are good things my friends. If your answer to any of these things was something along the lines of being a long time then I suggest you've got some serious playing to do. Oh sure, there are things we do have to take seriously, but we also need to play as well.

Gift of Freedom

Here is a clip from "The Daily Show" this past week as Jon Stewart tracks the logic of President Bush entering the war in Iraq.

Crazy

So this past week has been a bit crazy. I've wanted to post more, but it turns out that you need to actually be in the office and around a computer. Go figure! Turns out that hasn't happened a whole lot. So for those who check out my blog on a semi-regular basis in hopes of something new to read (to mock, be inspired by, or whatever) I do apologize the going has been slow lately. I should also warn you that I don't anticipate next week being any better... You know, Holy Week and all... maybe I can find some other videos to share.

Resurrected Life

Here is my sermon from this past Sunday, based largely on the story of the Raising of Lazarus found in John 11.

Give Big

It turns out that Oprah has a new show called "The Big Give." (Like she needed to something else to make more money.) It's a reality show where contestants are challenged to give away large chunks of money to "deserving" people. It's kind of an interesting concept. Their slogan is, "Give Big or Go Home." Perhaps a philosophy we could all grab a hold of. In fact, I heard one of the contestants say last night, "If you want to live big, then you have to give big." I don't know about you, but I liked that. I think that's something all of us could afford to learn.... And I don't think we need a sappy Oprah/network producer to make it happen.

I Don't Get It

I saw a report on the news this morning that kind of disturbed me. If you are familiar with Minnesota politics you will know that recently there was a new gas tax (first one in about 20 years) passed thanks to an override of a governor veto. How did they override the veto? Thanks to six republicans siding (gasp) with democrats and voting to override. In the initial days following that those republicans were stripped of their leadership positions in the house/senate. Now as the republicans are gearing up for another election series these six republicans did not receive the endorsement of their party. In fact, one of them is currently totally unopposed and he didn't get the endorsement. I just don't get it.

I know, I am a simple man, but I thought elected officials represented the people that voted for them first and then their political party somewhere else down the line. All six of these folks claimed that they were voting for what their constituents wanted. What's the problem then? I haven't heard any stories of other outlandish behavior by these six. Is it really a crime for a politician to listen to the people they represent and then (gasp) think for themselves? I just don't get it.

I am, once again, totally disgusted with politicians right now. I would like to think this is just a republican fault, but let's be honest here the democrats probably would have acted similarly were the rolls reversed. YUCK!!

Woman at the Well

Here is a video clip of my sermon based on the Woman at the Well, that I preached on Feb. 24. If this works as I hope, I'll try and post other sermons as well...

Moving On

OK, Ok, I'll admit I've been a bit distracted this week. I've been busy hitting F5 on various Iditarod update pages. I have been completely sucked in once again. It also hasn't helped to have Brett Favre retire at the beginning of the week and all of the various updates on that situation as well. Honestly, who has time to blog in the midst of such chaos?

Anyway, I've been struck recently by the news medias ability to let go of things, to mourn, and to grieve. It started last week when WCCO news anchor Bill Carlson died. Every night since he died last Friday they have spent a significant amount of time talking about the life and impact Bill had around the station, and the country really. An interesting side note to all of this is the greatest compliment they keep sharing over and over is how he treated everybody the same, "Whether you were a Hollywood movie star or a fan of his attending the state fair." Too bad we can't say that about more people, because it seems like such a simple thing to do. But I digress... On the sports stations it has been nonstop talk about Brett Favre and his retirement.

What gives? Yes! Bill Carlson was a wonderful man. Yes! Brett Favre was a tremendous football player, and seems like a nice guy as well. What makes it so hard to move on? I wondered about this when the bridge collapsed in Minneapolis this last summer. What is it about our culture that encourages our media to obsess in this sort of way? Is it because we're so removed from death in our culture today? Is it because we're so connected from one another relationally? Is it because we lack faith and trust in God? What is it? I honestly don't know. What I do know is that there is a disconnect somewhere and perhaps as people of faith we need to figure it out and begin to address it, to pray about it, to bring God into this.

It's That Time of Year Again...

It's back! The start of the 2008 Iditarod was yesterday. A high school classmate of mine is running again this year. He had an impressive showing at the Yukon Quest this year, so who knows what he's up for this year. His website can be found here. If you've ever tracked the race you know how exciting it can be. It was amazing to get to live in Nome for a year and watch the finish. It is an impressive event.

For those of you who check this blog out looking for "churchy" things, let me share a lesson I learned from the Iditarod that I've shared a number of times. One of the things they've found with these sled dogs is that they run faster when there are twists and turns in the course, when there are exciting new things around the corner. The dogs run a lot slower when it the course never changes, when it's long and straight. Might this be a lesson for leading the church? Especially, when you combine it with the notion that this is something these dogs were born to do. The year I lived in Alaska PETA put a big stink about the cruelty of the event. So the Iditarod leaders invited to come watch. The people PETA left with their proverbial tails between their legs. They learned that these dogs were born to run and to not run them in this way would be cruel. I think it's time we unleash our church folks in the same way. Set them lose to do what they were born to do (serving Christ and neighbor) on trail full of twists and turns.... I don't know about you, but that sounds like a radically different picture than what typically operates in the church.

Faith Matters

Before falling asleep last night I was flipping through channels and I came across a Nightline report, that struck me. It was a report about what heaven looks like. I don't know if I agreed with a lot of it, but it struck me that they were talking about it. The title of the segment, I think, struck me more. It seems they have created a series of reports titled, "Faith Matters." Naturally, my cynical side kicked in and I began to wonder, "Why does a network news program get it, and so many of us in mainline congregations don't?" Again, I can't say that I'm thrilled with some of the topics they've covered there, but honestly faith does matter. I just wish more of us lived it.

Kids? How about all of us?

Last night there was a good report about raising kids to spend and handle money in a healthy way. I would encourage you to watch it here. I think it might just be something ALL of us could learn, not just kids. The expert they spoke to is Nathan Dungan and I would also recommend his website found here, it's loaded with all kinds of great thoughts around money. It's time that as a society we change our thinking to share, save, and then spend... instead of the other way around.

Apathy & Making a Difference

This last week I had the opportunity to sit at the feet of a couple of great thinkers in the ELCA. First I attended a class taught by Dave Daubert who was working with the ELCA largely with planting mission start churches. He now works with A Renewal Enterprise, an organization dedicated to helping people and congregations connect with God's mission in the world. One of the most striking comments he made was that the predominant emotion expressed in the ELCA is apathy. We just don't seem to care, or maybe it's believe, that God is present and active in our world, much less that God is inviting us to join in this great mission.

Then on Sunday, I attended a workshop along with several other council members where the keynote speaker was Bishop Mark Hanson. He had some rather interesting, and provocative, things to say as well. One of the things I walked away with was that this generation we often lament being missing from our congregations, 18-35 year olds, want to join organizations where they can make a difference in the world. What does that say about us as a denomination if this generation is by and large missing?

These revelations kind of make me sad. It makes me sad that we are missing the mark so badly as a denomination. It makes me sad that there appears to be such a large number of people missing out on the exciting, glorious things that God is up to in the world.

Oddly, though, there is also excitement. While, we might be currently missing the mark a bit, we are also poised to make a tremendous impact on our culture which could probably use a good hug right about now. We have a theology that embraces the amazing things that God is up to in the world, and does so in a helpful way, with a realistic perspective. We have a theology that recognizes that there are just gray areas in life and embraces grace and forgiveness. We have a theology that understands that it is God at work and it's not up to us, but that we are invited to participate along with God who embraces those who find themselves at the margins of life. Consequently we have some of the best social service organizations in the world. We have the structure and people power to make a difference in the world like no other organization in existence. We can change the world!

Are we going to allow apathy and fear to rule? Or are we going to embrace the exciting things that God is up to in the world? There is a lot to be exciting about! We have only just scratched the surface of the impact we can have in the world through the power of god.

Eeyore Be Gone

Our journey back from Arizona yesterday turned into a bit of a disaster. We got to the airport and our flight was delayed. Not a problem, until we landed in Chicago and couldn't get on the next flight. That became a bigger deal when their computer indicated that I had a printed ticket, which turned out to be false. We ended up spending the night in Chicago and not our own beds as the schedule originally indicated. To put it lightly it brought out the inner Eeyore in me.

As I was catching up on some old e-mails today I came across a great article about leadership and hope. The premise was that you can delegate a lot of things as leader, but the one thing you can't delegate is hope. When hope leads along with the leader then the group doesn't have to worry about "if" we can overcome our current challenge. Instead they can worry about the "how" we will overcome. The problem is that often the Eeyore's of the world want end up leading and then we focus on the "if" instead of the "how" and we don't get real far. I think that's unfortunate because as people of faith hope really should lead the way. If there is a commodity that we should have in abundance it should be hope.

I confess, though, more often than not the inner Eeyore in me sneaks out. I try to put up a front of hope, but Eeyore lies beneath the surface and that can't be hidden. Or the other problem is that in trying to lead with hope I end up appearing to be blind to the reality of the situation, which isn't necessarily the case but if it is perceived then I think we all know it's reality for others. So it becomes a delicate balance. One that I continue to work on.

So I encourage you as you find yourself in a position of leadership, lead with hope. In the meanwhile, I also encourage you to take a look at the article here.

Getting Away

In just a short while Dawn and I will load up on a plane and head out to Anaheim, CA. We'll be there for about four days of continuing education. After that we will head over to AZ for some vacation visiting my parents. I've got to say there is something refreshing even about the thought that we are getting away. Not that it's bad being where I'm at, because it isn't. Yet isn't it nice to get a change of scenery? I anticipating getting recharged for ministry this weekend. I anticipate getting recharged for life next week. I am also quite sure that the 70 degree temperatures won't hurt either. If I get a chance I'll share updates from the conference, but we'll see... I'm getting away... and it feels good.

What Are You Going To Do?

It's here, Super Duper Fat Mardigras Tuesday. What's your plan? Are you going to get involved and join in your caucus or primary? What's going to lead your decision? What role will your faith play in the vote you cast? I know people want to say that we shouldn't mix religion and politics and from a governance standpoint I suppose they are right. I don't want some politicians telling me how to run the church, we've messed it up just fine on our own. Yet on a practical, realistic level how can you not mix the two? When faith grabs hold of your life it becomes a part of all that you do. Politics also influences all corners of our lives. How do you keep the two separated? Why should we separate the two?

Here is my hope. I hope that your faith leads as you go and support your favorite candidate. Then I hope that it is your faith that continues to lead you through these 40 days of lent that we have ahead of us yet.

Bad Math

The devotion I read this morning talked about how we live in world that understands living by law, or as he put it "ungrace." We all know the rules: "No pain, no gain", "You get what you pay for," etc. We live by these rules every single day. Then you sit down and you read the parables of grace that Jesus talks about. You get images of people who have built up such a debt that it is simply impossible for them to repay their debt (kind of sounds to me like that's us), yet they end up being let off completely scot-free. In world of money, bank foreclosures, and a tit-for-tat attitude that is just plain and simple bad math. It is outrageous, ridiculous, and scandalous.

Yet if we slow down and listen we start to hear it as wonderful. If we listen carefully we just might hear the gentle whispers that we, also, did not get what we deserved. The debt of my sin has built up to a point that there is simply no way I could ever repay the price. Yet there is a banquet being prepared for me as write (as you read). These are the whispers of grace that wash over us and sustain us.

Give Up

Here is something that came through my e-mail today. I thought it was fitting with the start of Lent right on our doorstep....

GIVE UP grumbling! Instead, "In everything give thanks." Constructive
criticism is OK, but "moaning, groaning, and complaining" are not Christian
disciplines.

GIVE UP 10 to 15 minutes in bed! Instead, use that time in prayer, Bible
study and personal devotion.

GIVE UP looking at other people's worst points. Instead concentrate on their
best points. We all have faults. It is a lot easier to have people overlook
our shortcomings when we overlook theirs first.

GIVE UP speaking unkindly. Instead, let your speech be generous and
understanding. It costs so little to say something kind and uplifting. Why
not check that sharp tongue at the door?

GIVE UP your hatred of anyone or anything! Instead, learn the discipline of
love. "Love covers a multitude of sins."

GIVE UP your worries and anxieties! Instead, trust God with them. Anxiety is
spending emotional energy on something we can do nothing about: like
tomorrow! Live today and let God's grace be sufficient.

GIVE UP TV one evening a week! Instead, visit some lonely or sick person.

There are those who are isolated by illness or age. Why isolate yourself in
front of the "tube?" Give someone a precious gift: your time!

GIVE UP buying anything but essentials for yourself! Instead, give the money
to God. The money you would spend on the luxuries could help someone meet
basic needs. We are called to be stewards of God's riches, not consumers.

GIVE UP judging by appearances and by the standard of the world! Instead,
learn to give up yourself to God. There is only one who has the right to
judge, Jesus Christ.

Rev. Craig Gates, Jackson, MS, "WHAT TO GIVE UP FOR LENT"

Prayer

The season of Lent is coming up quick. One of the things we traditionally emphasize during this season is prayer. Below is one of my favorite prayers I've seen in movies. It's a little crass, but I think it is an interesting picture of prayer. What do your prayers look like?





Who are you praying to? What does prayer mean to you?

Good, but...

"You are wonderfully, beautifully, and joyfully made." We want to hear these words. We need to hear these words. They are also very true. We live in a time of relatively fragile egos (at least mine is), and we want and need to hear that we are special creations of God... and that is exactly what you are.

The problem that I think we've run into a bit here is that after our egos have been stroked so much to make us feel good so that we can function at such a high level we lose perspective of the reality of the greater picture. We forget that we need God. Did you take notice of what Jesus said about John the Baptizer? Jesus essentially said that John was the greatest man to have walked the earth. (A pretty high compliment if you ask me.) However, Jesus didn't stop there he added that dreaded "but"... he is still lower than the lowest being in the heaven. John was really, really good, but...

You are wonderful. You are special. You are a complete joy in the eyes of God. But... you still need God. You are who you are because one greater than you created you that way.

An Inspiration

I came across an article about a woman that is a member of my parents congregation in St. Paul. She is quite the inspiration. She is 103 and full of more life than many people half her age. Take a look at the article here.

War

We are at war. Probably not a big news flash. Although, I would like to point out that I'm not talking about Iraq, Afghanistan, terror, or even drugs. Yes, we do have military troops fighting on all of these fronts. However, I'm talking about a spiritual war. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Ephesians, "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against . . . spiritual hosts of wickedness." There is a spiritual battle being raged as we speak, and we are at risk.

I suppose this is kind of an "odd" topic for a Lutheran to be writing about. Usually these kinds of things are saved for folks we want to call "Holy Rollers" or even Pentecostals. The problem is I believe this spiritual war effects us as well. Essentially, I believe, every struggle we face in the church comes down to a spiritual matter.

When we struggle with conflict in our midst, it's often because of a spiritual matter. You see conflict isn't necessarily bad, it can actually help us grow if "done" properly. When spiritual inmaturity creeps in then it becomes ugly and people can get hurt beyond repair.

When we struggle with finances in the church, it's probably not about money at all. It's actually a spiritual issue. Take our congregation here. We just passed a budget of about $400,000 and it felt like a stretch to many people. We stepped forward in faith and passed it, which is a good thing. However, if you take the average income around town and take figure a Biblical tithe of 10% we would have a budget of over $2.8 million. If there is a struggle financially it is a spiritual matter.

When we struggle with finding enough volunteers, it's a spiritual matter. What's the most common thing we hear? "I just don't have enough time" or "I'm so overbooked." Why is that? What is driving your priorities? Is the culture, peer pressure, etc. driving you or are you planning your schedule based on your call to ministry.

Now here's what I think is really tough, this spiritual battle is not usually a real in your face sort of battle. It is filled with all kinds of subtleties. One of the best things I have ever read on this is "The Screw Tape Letters" by C.S. Lewis. He paints a picture of the devil and his cohorts working on us in simple and subtle ways so that we don't recognize it until it is too late. We see it all the time, don't we? It starts with helping out things like your kids basketball team, which leads you to get involved in several other things, which eventually leads you to having no time for helping out with the ministry around the church. Or maybe it happens for you with your finances where you buy something little, then something else, you buy a gas trimmer for the lawn instead of the shears, and before you know you don't have money left over to give to support the ministry that's happening around you.

We are at war. Keep fighting. PRAY! And I pray that when all is said and done you can say, as the Apostle Paul said, that you have fought the good fight!

Backwards?

Healthy living has been on my mind lately. Our insurance has asked us to take a wellness survey. One of the things that came out of that was that I'm overweight. I knew that, but it's easy to ignore. I look around at our American culture and I feel like I'm doing pretty good (Where do they find these people for "The Biggest Loser" anyway?).

At the health club we belong to they have been promoting healthy weight loss recently. Just this past week they put out a display showing proper portion size. Those are no where near normal portions in our house. If others are larger than me, are they eating even larger portions than we are at home?

Then I read Jesus' words in Luke 4 when he says, "Man shall not live by bread alone." That's when it struck me. Are we doing things backwards? We're told to eat in moderation, in small doses, but it seems we eat our meals with heaping helpings. Yet when it comes to the bread of life we are not going to gain weight no matter how much we consume, we will only find benefits. Yet when it comes to the bread of life it seems we do consume it in moderation, in as small of portions as possible to sustain life.

I know, I know, I'm probably exaggerating here. However, sometimes I think you need to exaggerate to make a point. I do think there is some truth to this notion. We need to spend less time consuming Wonder Bread and more time consuming the Bread of Life. It seems to me that can only improve our lives, our health.

A Marketing Mess

A member of our congregation passed along an article to me recently about a rabbi employing some marketing and business strategy. It was interesting to me. It was interesting because this idea of marketing makes so many people in the church squeamish. Interesting that I think the article opened up an option because it came from someone outside of us (a Jewish Rabbi). So it got me to thinking some about marketing and the church.

In fact, it led me to a conversation with a friend of mine and she helped open my eyes a little further. As we exchanged e-mails I expressed my curiosity about church people's hesitation for marketing especially in light of last weeks readings in worship that were rife with words like, "testify." Aren't testimonies by and large the back bone of marketing?

"I got this and look at how my life has changed!"
"It was spellbinding!"
"Look at what we've got. You need it."

It struck me as well that this discussion was coming in the middle of Epiphany, that in large part is about pointing towards Jesus. In a crude sort of way, I suppose, we are actually called to advertise for Jesus, to promote God.

That's where my friend helped take me another step by pointing out that: "Maybe the problem is that we don't believe people need or want what we've 'got.'...And maybe that's because WE don't believe what we've 'got.'" I fear that just might be the crux of the problem, either we don't know or don't believe what we've "got"... I mean REALLY know it.

That makes me kind of sad because we have been given absolutely THE GREATEST gift imaginable. I pray that God would become profoundly real in your life... to the point that you will want to shout it from the mountain tops!

What On Earth?

"What on earth are you doing?" Were you ever asked that as a kid? Do you ever ask that of your kids? Does it sound at all familiar? I sounds familiar to me, no matter how I say it I can't help but heart it accusingly. I hear it and I feel guilty. Odds are I'm doing something wrong. I suppose that's why it struck me when I read this in a devotion last week, and then the author twisted it slightly and wondered, what if God were asking that question?

As followers of Christ we are examples of Christ to those whom we encounter. What kind of example are you? How is your life pointing towards Christ?

I know that I am not perfect, but I am forgiven. So I think that is how we can live as examples of Christ in our lives. We don't have to be perfect, but we can live forgiven lives. Be real. Be authentic. Be forgiven.

Side By Side

I read a devotion that asked an interesting question about our relationship with God. Is your relationship with God side by side rather than face to face?

One of the things I've found curious over the years is how it has come to be that going out to movies is a group activity? You sit all in a row in a dark room and stare at the screen, yet if you've ever gone to a movie alone you know that it feels weird to do so. There are a number of things you could do side by side with a person, but not get to know the person. How many people do you work along side with on a daily basis, but don't really know?

Side by side isn't a bad thing, it's just not as personal. To come face to face with a person is so much more personal. To be face to face you need to look in each others eyes. To be face face you are "forced" to interact with one another.

So where are you in your relationship with God? Are you standing side to side or sitting face to face?

Resolutions

Today's devotion from Our Daily Bread was pretty good today, I thought. If you didn't read it check it out here. The author talked about making New Year's resolutions. How often do we break them? Yet their commitments, often, to make changes that will be improvements in our life. So why not keep making them throughout the year?

It reminded me of Luther's call to daily repentance, daily returning to our baptism and drowning to sin. Funny (not funny ha-ha, but more of a funny sad) how sin keeps creeping into our lives. We repent and before we know it, there it is again. I guess Paul knew what he was talking about when he said that he kept doing the things he didn't want to do, but the things he wanted to do he found himself not doing. I don't know about you, but that has a bit of a familiar ring to me.

Merry Christmas!!

The waiting is over. Let us all rejoice! Merry Christmas to all, and may this season be filled with much joy and many blessings for each and everyone who happens to read this!!!

Controlled Waiting

Something interesting happened when our culture moved from an agrarian society to an industrial culture. It got even worse as it became a technological age. Somewhere in there we lost the ability to wait. We expect everything instantly. It has also created this sense, this desire to be in control.

One of the great things the baby Jesus teaches us is that we are NOT in control. Jesus, God's very own son, was not totally in control. Do you remember the prayer he prayed as he was about to be betrayed? "Lord take this cup from me, but not my will but thy will be done." Even for Jesus' life God was in control. So not being in control simply becomes a part of our human condition, and waiting becomes a spiritual activity, a holy thing.

Then Henri Nouwen takes it another notch higher, when in our devotional yesterday he writes, "The spirituality of waiting is not simply our waiting for God. It is also participating in God's own waiting for us and in that way coming to share in the deepest love, which is God's love."

So as Christmas day creeps ever closer we are reminded that we are NOT in control, and so we wait with God and experience God's love.

Who Loves Ya Baby?

One year my dad got a package of dried apricots from his family and he kindly expressed how much he liked them. For about the next 30 years my dad got dried apricots from his mother for Christmas and his birthday. I'm pretty confident that for all of these years that I've known my dad he hasn't been a huge fan of them.

This past year my wife did her internship project with a clever analogy to frogs. Over the past six months she has gotten a lot of frog themed gifts. We expect that as she wraps up her internship she'll get a number of frogs as going away/thank you gifts. It's the connection people have made with her, and it is a wonderful sentiment that people have gone out and found these wonderfully cute frog items. Truth be told, I don't know that Dawn is much of a fan of frogs. (I like them a lot so I will make sure they have a wonderful place in our home.)

This time of year many of us will receive similar sorts of gifts. We will get gifts from co-workers, distant college roommates, and family members we haven't seen since last year. Their intentions will be good, but they just don't know us well enough to give the "perfect" gift. The truth is, who really does know us that well?

Take a look at Psalm 139... I think God knows us that well, especially when you look at those first few verses. God knows when I sit down and stand up. God knows my thoughts, my words even before they come out of my mouth. Consequently God knows the perfect gift to give to me. God knows exactly what I need this Christmas. I need a savior, and that's exactly what God has given all of us.

Patient Waiting

First of all, to those "regulars" thank you for your patience in sticking with me through this busy time of year. With all of the other writing that I'm doing this time of year (sermons, newsletter, annual report, etc.) the time and thoughts for my blog have been a bit fewer and further in between.

This year the Advent Devotional that we got for the congregation is a collection of writings from Henri Nouwen. Last week there were a couple of neat entries I would like to share. First he wrote, "Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there." So often we think of patience as a passive thing, so I love this notion of it being active. Then yesterday's entry read:

The waiting of the Advent figures in the first chapters of Luke's Gospel is not a passive waiting. They are waiting very actively. They know that what they are waiting for is growing from the ground on which they are standing. Right here is a secret for us about waiting. If we wait in the conviction that a seed has been planted and that something has already begun, it changes the way we wait. Active waiting implies being fully present to the moment with the conviction that something is happening where we are and that we want to be present to it. A waiting person is someone who is present to the moment, believing that this moment is the moment.

I love that gardening image. When a seed is planted in the spring all you can really do is wait for it to grow. The seed has to do the work. Yet, because you know that a seed is planted in that particular location there are things you do like water it and pick the weeds that might strangle it. Yet all you can do is wait, but it is an active, patient waiting. Sure there is an anticipation of the future, but you are also forced to live in the moment. That, then, is how we are called to live in our lives: actively, patiently living in the moment.

Confirmation Follow-Up

Some of you might recall that I shared a "rant" about confirmation last week. If you missed it, or want a reminder scroll down, or click here. I wanted to briefly follow-up with an idea I had about a new way of doing confirmation.

I would like to see a more organic process to doing confirmation. What I am envisioning is something closer to how we do marriages in the church. When a couple is ready to get married they contact the church, we ask them to fill out an assessment that guides pre-marital counseling and when that is done they get married. What if we did confirmation similarly? When a student feels like they might want to confirm their faith, affirm their baptism, they (or their family) contacts the church and we give them an assessment that would give us an idea where they are at spiritually. Using the results of the assessment the student will follow a series of discussions with an adult mentor. At the end of the mentoring process the student would sit down with the pastor (or other assigned congregation leader) to assess that the student really wanted to do this. In this sense a third grader or a tenth grader could enter the process and be confirmed. It could be as long or as short as needed for the student. It could be used with new member groups, or other places in the congregation as well if desired.

It would be a new way of thinking about confirmation, but I think it has some potential. What do you think of the idea? (assuming I explained it clear enough) Chew on it a while and share your thoughts. Next week I'll share with you what I see as the most glaring concerns about my idea. (Hey, no idea is perfect. There are always shortfalls in these kinds of things. If I had the perfect solution I would be rich and ready to retire about now.)

Spending

This can be a touch financial time of year. There is all kinds of pressure to spend extravagant amounts of money. Doesn't it almost feel like the patriotic thing to do, a societal obligation if you will. Nathan Dungan has a great article (here) about how to combat this hyper-spending temptation this time of year on his website, Share Save Spend. In fact, while you're there take a look around the website as there are numerous different items to help us rethink how we use our money.

A Take on Advent

At text study last week we were talking about this whole theme of "being prepared" of "being ready" that runs throughout Advent. In light of the fact that part of what we're getting ready for is the birth of the baby Jesus (along with getting ready for the second coming, but we'll brush past that for now) I thought my pastor friend's thought was awesome. She said something to the effect of, "It's kind of like being pregnant. You don't know exactly when the baby is going to come. So you can take that and panic or you can take that as a great relief because it's not up to you."

We don't know when Jesus will return, but we know that Jesus promised us that. We can take that as a sign that we need to start to scurry around and make sure we do certain things? We also can make the choice to take this promise as a sign that it's not up to us, there is nothing we can do, that it is all up to God. To misquote Pastor Dave from his sermon yesterday, "Being ready is knowing WHO we are preparing for, WHO we are expecting."

Facebook

If you haven't explored the world of Facebook (and I suspect MySpace is the same) I would suggest you check it out. It's a strange phenomenon where people are connecting with one another and building community. Ironically, it seems to also be distancing ourselves as we interact from our own very rooms. It's also a world that you can easily get sucked into. So here is a music video about this virtual community of Facebook. If you've been there you might find some humor.



For those who have been looking for more posts from me I apologize. I was sick last week, ran into Thanksgiving, and now I'm taking a few days off for the sake of some down time. So there might not be more for a few more days. Although, we'll see what happens and I might get inspired.

Communion

Here is one of my new favorite songs from the band Third Day. What does communion mean to you?

Confirmation

Is it time for us to completely rethink how we do confirmation? What we do here on Wednesday nights is an exciting change from classroom lecture and test model that I went through as a teenager. I think we're doing some good things with our current confirmation. The problem, as I see it, is that it is still too structured, too one-size-fits-all. What we are essentially saying is that if you sit through these 45 classes (or whatever it is) you will be ready to profess your faith.

I believe faith development is more organic than that. I have met third graders who are very ready to affirm their baptism and I have met tenth graders that still aren't ready. I think it's time for us to stop thinking about faith development as simply a middle school thing and stat thinking of it as a life long way of life. I would like to suggest that if we are going to take the promises of confirmation seriously and not turn it into a complete farce, then we need to start thinking about things differently. We need to development a way to make it possible for a person to publicly profess that they now desire to live out the promises made on their behalf in their baptism whether they are 13 or 31.

Perhaps I will leave my thoughts there and let you chew on them a bit. In the days ahead I will share a few more thoughts, including a proposal that's been rattling around in my head.

Self-Help

The devotion from ODB today struck me in its discussion on self-help. If you wander into a place like Barnes & Noble you will notice books flying off the shelves in the self-help section. We like those kinds of things. We like people like Dr. Phil, because they assure us that we are in control. They tell us that we are in charge of our lives, and that we can fix all of our problems.

It's a nice concept, but I think it's wrong. Oh sure, those things certainly can be helpful. I just think that God is ultimately in control. Isn't that one of the very basic tenants of our faith? God is above all things. If you have any doubts ask someone standing at the foot of a grave how much they can fix the problem. Talk to an addict and they'll tell you that the big con they've played on themselves is thinking that they were the ones in control. It's just simply reality that we are not completely and totally in control of our lives. That would be a job for God... and thank goodness for that!

At the Foot of a Grave

So it's been a while since I've posted regularly. My schedule has been a bit turned upside down lately and that has thrown me. However, I am here for today. I wanted to share with you a story I heard yesterday that I think fits with our lectionary readings for Sunday. As a preacher I find this a challenging stretch to be preaching. We are in the midst of a number of readings about end times and then we'll transition into Advent with similar themes in looking at the coming of Jesus (both 2,000 years ago and again soon for a second time).

With this as a backdrop and Pastor Dave's preaching about our living in a culture of death that I heard a beautiful story yesterday. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a pastor in Waseca. Last February there was a tragic shooting that involved a father and son who were killed and a mother who barely survived. Last week after traipsing through manure covered fields he came across the mother standing in the wind swept cemetery standing in front of the grave. As my friend approached the mother asked, "Is this all there is?"

If that's not a profound theological moment, I don't know what is. It's a picture of life as well, I think, covered in manure standing at the grave asking is this all there is? I think we know the answer to that question, but it hits hard sometimes. We know that resurrection, new life, is only possible through death. It is in death that we begin to see resurrection, that we begin to find hope. It's the strange thing about our faith, that it works this way. It is also the beautiful part of our faith as well.

Living Large

We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. —2 Corinthians 6:11

I think there is something kind of catchy about that phrase, "Living Large." I don't know if it's really used all so much any more, but it is used to connote that one is living the good life filled with all of the luxuries that come along with it. It is, in many ways, the American Dream.

I don't want to suggest that God doesn't want us to have good things, but I do want to suggest that perhaps God is looking for something a little different out of us. As Paul suggests to the people of Corinth, we are to live with "our heart wide open." I think that is a rather different connotation. We are called to live a life of generosity, both financially and with a listening heart.

Perhaps today we can live large by living with a large, open heart.

Survivor vs. Biggest Loser

One of the shows that we like to watch at home is "Survivor". There is something fun about the game itself, the games within that are a dream for former camp employees, but there is also something intriguing about the social dynamic of the game as well. We get to watch human nature at perhaps it's conniving worst.

Recently a friend of ours told us about "The Biggest Loser" a show where contestants work to lose the greatest percentage of weight. This friend of ours likes it not just for the fitness, health, and weight loss aspect of the show. She also likes the comradery that develops each season, as compared to the cutthroat nature of other reality competition shows. She mentioned how on a recent episode one of the contestants manipulated matters to get rid of another contestant. In so doing he tried to point out that it was a game. To which the other contestants stood up to him and said, "We don't do that here. We don't behave that way."

Wouldn't that be interesting if that's the way we behaved in the church. What if we said, "We don't do that here. We don't behave that way" to the conniving, Survivor-like behavior of other members? What if we created an atmosphere of love, respect, and support? What if we behaved in a way that God expects us to behave instead of the way our instincts sometimes drive us?

Movies

Fall is also a time of year that I like to watch movies. What movies are you hoping to catch in the theaters this fall? (The Bee Movie? American Gangster? Something else?) Do you have any recommendations of movies you have seen we should rent and watch? If you have any good movie ideas/thoughts pass them along in the comments section.

Stewardship & The Emerging Church

I was pointed to an interesting blog entry today and thought I would pass it along to you here. The author reflects on her visit to an emerging church congregation and the one that she's a part of. For those unfamiliar with the emerging church movement and over-simplified explanation would be it is anti-institutional approach to "doing church" for a generation of young adults just coming to age. In the midst of the authors reflection were thoughts about the struggle of this congregation to make their budget, a common struggle for an "institutional" church like ours. I love how she says, "we in our culture have this pernicious reality of being profoundly affluent while having a mentality of scarcity." We have a created a culture that pays $3 for a cup of coffee or $50 for concert tickets, but then complain we suggest that $1 a day will help eliminate our line of credit.

My friend Kelly Fryer writes about this as well in her blog, where she points out that this is a generation that has by and large invented the idea of voluntourism. So we have an emerging generation that goes on vacation to build Habit houses, as well as a retiring, Baby Boomer, generation doing the same. It also appears to me that we have these two generations in abundance here at CLC. It got me to thinking... We, as church leadership, need to show that we are making a difference. Where are we serving the community of Byron? Southeast Minnesota? As we make a difference people get involved. As people become involved and invested in the church they will hopefully grow in faith (assuming they get involved with things like Bible study and worship alongside their involvement in service). As people grow in faith they grow in their giving.

It's a theory... what do you think?

Rivets?

At Our Daily Bread today the author talked about it being one rivet being the cause of the Titanic sinking. From there she made the connection of what seems like "normal" parts being important in a ship to the importance of seemingly "normal" or "ordinary" parts of a congregation being important. What wonderful timing in light of Sunday being Reformation Sunday, Wednesday being Reformation Day, and the importance of the priesthood of all believers. Last night we watched the "Luther" movie that was out in 2003, and we got to see again the importance of allowing the "ordinary" people to have access to God. We all are important in God's eyes.

We are not cisterns made for hoarding but rather channels made for sharing.

- Craig Sundbert

I was watching the "Today" show this morning and they had a report on remodeling your kitchen. It sounded like fun, but then I started listening to the report. It turns out it was tips for remodeling your kitchen for the sake of reselling your house. Not a bad thing in itself, but it struck me how focused on making money so many of the reports really are, how focused on money most of us are in this culture. I think that's why I got kind of excited when I came across the above quote this morning when I got to church. Our instincts are to hoard our money and our stuff, but what we have been granted is really ours for the sake of sharing with others. Now that sounds a little more refreshing to me.

Revival 2

After writing about revival, I came across this blog post about Willow Creek Church. If you are unfamiliar with Willow Creek, they have been the model for large, outreach focused congregations for years. In evaluating their effectiveness they have discovered that by and large they have simply acculturated a shallow faith. They have done a good job of getting people to show up for things around their congregation, but it seems they have struggled to get people to be intentional about nurturing their faith outside of Sunday morning. It sounds like a common struggle of many congregations. It will be interesting to watch and see where they go with this new understanding. Read the entry here and tell me what you think.

Revival

One of the things I like about going for walks, or runs, is that it often clears my head and leads to a time of prayer. That happened to me last night. As I was communing with God I was struck by a word, "Revival." It's not one of those words that we Lutherans are often very comfortable with in our lives. We hear it and we think of Billy Graham or Steve Martin in "Leap of Faith" under a circus tent. It's just not our style.

I wonder why that is, though? A friend of mine used to be a pastor at a congregation just outside of Milwaukee and they had a revival every summer...and they're Lutheran. For me revival is being stirred up, touched by, the presence of God. Why wouldn't we want that? What if we all started praying for it? I bet we might begin to see some neat things happen.

Books

We are hitting some classic fall days. You know those days that were created for a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. If you're like me you find that these kinds of days can be great for grabbing a blanket, a warm drink, and settling in with a good book. So here's my question for you, do you have any good book recommendations? If so click on the "comments" below and let me know... let all of us know.

Halloween is Coming

I have to confess, I'm having a very difficult time getting excited about Halloween. I've had numerous people this past fall asking if we are really going to have confirmation on Halloween. Why wouldn't we take advantage every opportunity possible to possibly grow in our faith? In fact, why don't we have more things like Bible study happening around this congregation?

Here is the other part that I'm struggling with when it comes to Halloween. How do the various activities lead people towards Christ? Yet how much time, money, and effort does the average person put towards this one particular day? It is festival, from where I'm looking at it, that encourages wearing masks, greed, and gluttony. On the other hand, as followers of Christ, I see us being called to being real, generous, and sharing Christ with others. What if we invested as much in the latter set of values as we do in the former?

Here is what I find kind of ironic. October 31 is Reformation Day, celebrating the Reformation and Luther's posting of the 95 thesis. One of the bottom lines of the Reformation (as I understand it) was placing Christ first. Maybe this next Wednesday we can place Christ first instead of all of the other worldly stuff we normally place first.

Changed

He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me ~Mark 7:6

One of the great things about literature, especially I see this with the Bible is that each time you read it you see or hear something different. Yesterday, for example, after a week of studying the readings for Sunday morning as our readers read from Genesis I heard it different. What really jumped out at me this time was that Jacob was changed after his encounter with God. Did you notice that his name was changed as well as leaving with a limp?

It got me to thinking about our church and our congregation. We have people filling up the pews, but are we seeing lives that are marked by change? Can other people see the change in your life because of your encounter with God? It seems to me that if you are a follower of Christ then people should see a difference in the way you live your life. Where does worship & prayer fall on your list of priorities? When it comes to finances do you spend first or share first? What is your reaction when you are offended, revenge or forgiveness? Do you think of yourself (or your family) first or others first? This is a challenge within the committees of our own congregation as we fret over finances well before we fret over ministry. Is not our call to ministry, our call to place others first, a top priority as followers of Christ?

You have had an encounter with God in your baptism. You have been changed, renamed "Child of God." Let the world see that change. I found what I think is an interesting devotion in "The Upper Room", I encourage you to click here and read it for yourself.

Determined & Bold

If there is one thing that our O.T. (Genesis 32:22-31) and N.T. (Luke 18:1-8) readings have in common for Sunday, it is that they are stories about bold & determined people. Okay, so there are probably a number of other things that they have in common, but this is what is striking me today. Jacob wrestles with God, of all people, all night long. To do that, I think, is either incredibly gutsy or incredibly dumb. The same could be said of the widow (who has no place in that society really, she would have been viewed as nothing) in the parable who continues to demand justice from the cold hearted judge. Now that I think about it, they have something else in common: they went to the right person, to the one who could ultimately do something and make a difference.

Thinking upon your life, are you single minded, determined, and bold like these characters? Are going to the right person? Are you willing to wrestle with God, or do you chose to wrestle with others? Do you boldly demand justice or do you settle for your lot in life and simply allow injustice to continue?... Whoever said the call to follow was easy?

Denny Crain

I was watching "Boston Legal" again last night. I think it is funny, ridiculous, and often thought provoking. Last night they took on Bullfighting! Oh yeah, they also took on "Gays in the military." I like that they are willing to take on these difficult, hot topic issues with what I see to be sensitivity and humor. I particular appreciate it during a week when the upcoming Old Testament reading has Jacob (soon to become Israel) wrestling with God. Are we willing to wrestle with the tough issues as a church? A congregation? When we do wrestle with the tough issues who are we wrestling with? Ourselves? A system? God?

A Fiery Sermon

Here is an e-mail that was forwarded to me recently... I liked it and hope you do as well.

A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his preachers visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The preacher made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone Then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow,once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

We live in a world today, which tries to say too much with too little. Consequently, few listen. Sometimes the best sermons are the ones left unspoken.

Back

We are back from vacation and mostly relaxed. I thought maybe I would start with sharing a cover of a song that was quite popular a few years ago.

Idols

I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. ~Isaiah 43:11
How often do we hear from pastors and other church leaders that we are called to put God first? How often do we make reference to the first commandment? As I recall (and I very well may be wrong) Martin Luther spoke about this first commandment being the toughest and once that one falls the others all seem to fall as well. (My words, not his) There are a lot of different things that continue to tug at us trying to pull us away from time spent with God, trying to replace God as our top priority.

What sort of things are tugging at you? What are the other gods that you are battling? Is it money? Job? How about sports, that's a big one in this day and age. The big one, I think, is kids. Do you fall into the trap of "worshiping" your children? Who runs the house, you or your children? Who runs your house you or your checkbook? Who runs your life you or your calendar? Where does God fit into your life? Your schedule? Your finances? Your family?

As wonderful as some of these other things are in our lives, why don't you refer back to the opening verse from Isaiah... the "things" aren't going to save us... only God can do that.

Vacation

Technically speaking our vacation starts somewhere around 4:30 today after my last meeting. However, truth be told, my brain has already left the building. (I know. I know. Some of you are wondering if it ever entered. Funny.) I tell you this because I find it hard this morning to find words that are even remotely inspirational. If anything strikes me later, I'll be sure to share. I also tell you this because it may be some time until I post again. However, for those who check this blog from time to time, know that I will return... and maybe, just maybe my brain will enter the building with me.

Sight

My eyes are upon You, O God the Lord; in You I take refuge; do not leave my soul destitute. —Psalm 141:8

Isn't it interesting how different people see different things? When most of my friends see a golf course they begin to see where they would hit the ball and how tough the greens appear. I, on the other hand, see a golf course and I start thinking about where I would run a cross-country race. When many people walk into a new sanctuary they see the beautiful stained class or note how comfortable the pews appear. When I walk into a new sanctuary I picture how I would like to see worship use the space and where I would want to preach from. Then of course there is the classic seeing of the glass as half full or half empty.

I like this Psalm that says, "My eyes are upon You, O God the Lord..." How often do we look around surveying a scene (nature or people) and completely miss God in the picture? How often do we start to dream of our future (having kids, starting retirement, planning vacation, etc.) and not see God in the picture? I think it would be helpful to see God around us a little more often. Perhaps that can be our goal for today, to see God.

Baby Got Book

I don't remember if I've shared this before, but I came across this again today and it still makes me giggle. If you remember Sir-Mix-A-Lot, you'll probably enjoy it as well.

One Way

Jesus said . . . , “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” —John 14:6

I think this verse is both one of the most beautiful, grace filled verses and one of the most divisive verses we have in our scripture. On the one hand it can be used to suggest that you need to line up in a certain way to be saved. Often that means you need to look like Billy Graham, James Dobson, or some other well known conservative Christian. Now that might be the case, but I'm suspicious. Some want to use this verse to suggest that you must be a Christian to be saved, and that we have all of the right answers. Again, that might be right, but I think that's dangerous.

You see, when I look at this verse I don't see exclusivity, but inclusiveness. I don't see Jesus saying who is in and who is out. I see an opportunity for all to be saved, it's just that when it happens it's because of Jesus. I like to look at it this way. When I was in college we had an old two door beater of a car. At one point the passenger door couldn't be opened because of an issue with the window. Consequently you could only enter the door through the drivers side door. There was only one way to enter the car. Anybody was welcome to ride along with me, but they could only get in one way.

I think this verse is suggesting something similar. It doesn't say that Muslims, Jews, and others can't be saved. It doesn't say that you have to be a Christian to be saved. However, I do think it says that Jesus does the saving. Therefore I see that it is my job to love, to love my neighbor and to love my enemy, and it is Jesus' job to do the saving.

The Best

I am admittedly a Minnesota Vikings fan. I am frustrated by "my" teams lack of success this fall. One of the criticism's of the team that has begun to increase is that their best player (Rookie Adrian Peterson) is not playing enough. If you want to win you need to play your best players. It makes me wonder if we are putting our best foot forward as a church, are we playing our best players? Often, I think, we end up "playing" those who have always played instead seeking out the best "player" for each position and plugging them in there. I think the church deserves better than that. I think God deserves better than that.

Curious

I've been writing in this blog for some time now. I was hoping that over time it might become somewhat of a dialog, thinking about matters of faith. That hasn't become the case as the comments remain largely empty. It's okay, but I don't have a chance to know if people are reading or not. As I move forward I would be curious to know if I am writing for myself or if others are checking in from time to time. If you are reading this, I could appreciate you clicking on the "comment" link below and letting me know. Thanks!

Consequences

I really liked the devotion from Our Daily Bread today. Bill Crowder wrote about reaping and sowing, or perhaps you might say, "consequences." One of the things that troubles me when I look around society are those people who seem to have forgotten that our actions have consequences. Last night we spoke about the second commandment and how minimizing God's name has consequences. So to do our actions. Working 50-60 hour weeks instead of 40, has consequences on your health and family. We can chose to follow a temporary path of sin knowing that we have forgiveness, but there consequences. How we chose to live our lives has consequences. Follow the link to the devotion above, he says it much better.

WooHoo!!

Congratulations to our friends David & Becky! Yesterday they had their second child, Joshua Rahn... Dawn and I are excited to meet him in person in just over two weeks! WooHoo!!!

A Parable

With the recent visit and brew ha-ha about Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, I was struck by the following parable written by Henri Nouwen.

Once there was a people who surveyed the resources of the world and said to each other: "How can we be sure that we will have enough in hard times? We want to survive whatever happens. Let us start collecting food, materials, and knowledge so that we are safe and secure when a crisis occurs." So they started hoarding, so much and so eagerly that other peoples protested and said: "You have much more than you need, while we don't have enough to survive. Give us part of your wealth!" But the fearful hoarders said, "No, no, we need to keep this in case of an emergency, in case things go bad for us, too, in case our lives are threatened." But the others said: "We are dying now, please give us food and materials and knowledge to survive. We can't wait..we need it now!" Then the fearful hoarders became ever more fearful since they became afraid that the poor and hungry would attack them. So they said to one another: "Let us build walls around our wealth so that no stranger can take it from us." They started erecting walls so high that they could not even see anymore whether there were enemies outside the walls or not! As their fear increased they told each other: "Our enemies have become so numerous that they may be able to tear down our walls. Our walls are not strong enough to keep them away. We need to put bombs on top of the walls so that nobody will dare to even come close to us." But instead of feeling safe and secure behind their armed walls they found themselves trapped in the prison they had built with their own fear. They even became afraid of their own bombs, wondering if they might harm themselves more than their enemy. And gradually they realized their fear of death had brought them closer to it.

Nouwen is writing at a time when nuclear weapons were proliferating. However, I think his words ring true. In talking about this parable that was published in "Lifesigns" he further writes:

... Never have nations spent so much to protect themselves against their neighbors near and far, and never have we come so close to the annihilation of the human race.
There is an urgent need for a spirituality that addresses these idolatries and opens the way to a new ecstasy. We must find a way to go beyond our national security obsession and reach out and foster life for all people, whatever their nationality, race, or religion."

A Fine Line

It seems to me there is a fine line between being meek/humble and allowing yourself to be a doormat. I enjoy watching the youth of our congregation play sports, but often I find myself wanting to encourage them to be tougher, to be more aggressive. That doesn't mean that you should be mean or try and hurt someone, but don't roll over either.

The world certainly devalues weakness, so when we hear things from Jesus like, "Blessed are the meek..." we don't understand... or we don't want to understand. I think there is an impression by certain segments of our society that want to suggest that Jesus was, or at least encourages us to be, a sissy. I can't imagine that's the case.

The devotional from The Upper Room today talked about this and really got me thinking. Today's author was Donald Maly and I will leave you with his last paragraph:

Jesus did not show timidity or spinelessness when he threw the merchants out of the temple courtyard. He certainly was not lacking courage or self-esteem. He was meek, humble before God, but he was bold in proclaiming God's truth.

A Hodge Podge

How is your faith journey going these days? Are persevering? Hit a low spot? Today I came across an interesting devotion about persevering in faith. There was a reference to a 1968 marathoner who stated, "My country didn't send me here to start the race, but to finish." You've started the race, are you prepared to finish it... no matter the cost?

How is your loving going? Honestly, I'm not all so good. I wish I were better. Anyway, I was just struck by the Toby Mac song "Made to Love" with a chorus that rings with: "I was made to love You... I was made to love, and to be loved by You." I appreciated the reminder that I was made to love God.

Sandy Wins

Here is video of Sandy being interviewed at the Twins game last Tuesday. You'll notice my mother is pretty excited to get on TV as well.

Twins Game

Last night we got to attend the Minnesota Twin's game. It was cool to see Danielle throw out the first pitch. She had a lot of pressure, not only was she doing this in front of thousands of people but her dad is a baseball coach so we were looking for one right up the middle. She stayed cool under the pressure and did awesome.

We had a lot of fun chatting it up during the game, and then Sandy up and got interviewed on TV. Can you believe that? Not only that, but she won 100 lottery tickets. What a wild night.

It was good to see us just having fun hanging out as a congregation, as a Christ Lutheran family. It was great because we had kids as young as 1st grade with us and kids as old as 60+ years old. We do a lot of great things as a church, but we also need to remember to play together. I'm glad we got to play at the Twins game last night.

Hiding in Plain Sight

The Lord says, "When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart." -Jeremiah 29:13 (NRSV)

When we were kids there was a gaggle of us who liked to play games in our backyards. We especially enjoyed games like hide-n-go-seek and kick the can, games where you get to hide. One of the neighbor girls learned early on (the rest of us took quite a bit longer) that hiding in close and obvious spots were often the best places. In fact, some of the best places she found were, by and large, in places that might be considered plain sight.

Sometimes it feels like God is so very hard to find, as if God is almost a non-presence in our life. I wonder if we're not making it too complicated, because God is "hiding" in what might be considered plain sight. The verse above from Jeremiah tells us that when we look for God we will find God, so God must not be "hiding" that hard. The psalmist encourages us to, "be still, and know that I am God." Maybe, when we are looking for God we just need to slow down and look right in front of us.

Everything

Here is a popular video these days. Take a look below... what do you think?

Jesus as Friend

One of my favorite movie "images is that of Buddy Jesus in the movie "Dogma" (seen on the right). It does make a bit of a mockery of our temptation to over promote Jesus as our friend. Obviously (at least I think it's obvious) the friendship suggested and offered in John 15 is something more, something much deeper. It is something precious. It is with that "caution" that I commend to you the devotion from "Our Daily Bread" today. Give it a read, it kind of gave me a nice warm feeling. Sometimes, I think you need those warm fuzzy moments.

Letting Go

One of the best things I get to do each month is to attend a pastor support group. It's a group of other pastors where we get a chance to share our challenges (personal and professional) with one another. More often than not we find that we're not the only one struggling with certain issues and we discover that we are in this together. It's amazing how helpful this process can be.

Anyway, at our group today a couple of people were talking about, "letting go." Probably a helpful thing for all of us to. We should probably all let go of those earthly things that tend to consume us and allow God to take over. It's a great concept, but sometimes it's quite difficult to practice.

As we talked about this I was reminded that I had learned this lesson a couple of weeks ago playing golf. I'll admit it, I'm a pretty lousy golfer. Although I like to think I have a lot of potential for the game (seriously). The one time I played this summer, a few weeks ago now, it was a gathering of pastors and church workers from around the synod. I started feeling the pressure (I have a tendency to do that to myself) to play as well as I possibly could. I swung as hard as I could in an attempt to keep up with the other players in my foursome. I'm actually impressed that nobody on the golf course actually got hurt I sprayed the ball around so much.

After about fifteen holes of miserable golf aside from about two or three decent shots I basically gave up. I stopped caring. An odd thing happened over the last three holes. I had my three longest and straightest drives. Isn't it amazing how, when you relax and let go things really kind of come together? It is true in sports. It is even more true in life.

If you are feeling stressed, struggling with something or other give this a try: stop trying to control the situation and let go of it. Give it over to God, listen for God's voice, and see what happens. I bet you just might be surprised by how things get better.

Lesson from the Exercise Bike

I don't normally listen to country music. It's not so much that I don't like it, I just don't think of tuning in to those stations when I'm in a car that has a radio (my radio stopped working about 4 years ago now on my way home from internship and now this past summer even the CD player has stopped working from my battery going low... long story). For some reason when I was at the health club this past weekend I decided to tune in to the country music channel. I was struck by a song that blatantly said, "I want everything." (Although, now that I'm a couple of days removed I probably have the exact line incorrect.)

"That's bold," I thought. Then, again isn't that pretty close to what most of us are thinking? I didn't catch all of the words of the song, but the singer wanted not just stuff but to try and "do" everything as well. Most certainly, I think, the song was a snapshot of our society today.

No more than two songs later came a gentleman singing about having faith is just enough. He pointed to things like Noah and his faith allowing him to survive the flood. Isn't this quite true as well?

I found the contrast and the timing of these songs very striking. I'm guessing the person who programmed in the sequence of the songs did so unwittingly. However, I think it was beautiful. Here, in song, was named our problem and our solution. Our selfishness and greed lead us to want everything, to believe that we might even deserve it all. Yet ALL that we need is God, is faith.... Maybe I should work out a little more often.

The Bible is "Alive"

Bishop Skrenes from the Northern Great Lakes Synod writes in a recent book review of "God's Continent":

Martin Luther wrote centuries ago, “The Bible is alive—it has hands and grabs hold of me, it has feet and runs after me.” The scandal of the Church that bears Luther’s name in 21st century America is that its members do not take seriously the Scriptures. The average Lutheran spends more time in our “checkbooks” than we do with the Word of God. Bible study in our churches reaches 1-2% of our members. Daily Bible reading is not common in our American congregations. Pastors report to me only minimal interest in adult studies of God’s Word. Perhaps, the people of God’s Church in the Global South are challenging us to find our roots again in the Word of God. We need to be challenged!

When is the last time you allowed the Bible to grab hold of you? Do you spend more time worrying about your checkbook or the word of God?

How about as a congregation? What a challenge that is to us. I bet if we did an analysis of recent council meetings we would see that we spent more time wrestling with the budget than the Bible.

I think we have officially been challenged!

Cost of Convenience

Something has been nagging at me for a while now. How has Christianity become a faith of convenience? Read the assigned Gospel reading from Luke 14 and then come back and I'll share a little more...

What did you read there? Did you see anything that would suggest follow Jesus would be easy? Give away everything... take up your cross... It's a call to discipleship that appears to call for sacrifice and probably comes with a side dish of passion (at least I would think to be able to show such compassion so as to sacrifice on that level).

Now take a look at your average mainline (i.e Lutheran, Methodist, etc.) congregation and what do you see? Take a look at your congregation and what do you see? Sacrifice? Passion? I see a lot of people showing up when it's convenient or what it serves their needs or desires. How did things get so turned around?

As followers of Christ we are asked to take up our cross. Yes, there is suffering in the world, but that isn't necessarily your cross. Recent floods have decimated portions of Southern Minnesota. The floods discriminated equally amongst Christians and non-Christians. The floods are not necessarily their cross, nor were they God's judgment (at least I can't imagine so). To take up your cross means sacrificing and entering into the suffering with someone or on behalf (for the sake of) someone else. That, if you ask me, is a HUGE cost.

To be propelled by faith to enter into such suffering is not, in my mind, convenient in any way whatsoever. How did things get so turned around? How do we turn the ship back around again? How do we recover that radical sense of mission to the world? How do we instill that kind of passion to bring the Good News of Jesus to all the world, no matter what the cost?

What is faith of convenience actually costing us? Is it our lives?

Listening

Some might say that listening is easy. I think good listening is hard work. Listening can also be rewarding. To listen, really listen, one needs to listen beyond the words. So, in some ways, it is a little easier to do when someone is sharing about the death of a loved one. We recognize the pain, grief, and other emotions that come along side such sharing. We can listen deeply, we can empathize and we can know the rewards of allowing that person to share.

What about listening when what is being shared appears to be critical of you or something you are a part of? I believe a good leader is one who allows space for people to voice their criticism so that learning and growth can happen. As a leader you are often stuck looking to the future and can easily lose sight of the present.

My confession? I want to listen like this, but I don't think I do all so well. I need to hear the critique so I can grow, but when it comes it is easy to become defensive. I know that if I listen beyond the words I will hear a heartfelt desire to help bring improvement, a desire to help the greater good, but I hear attacks and fight back. How do you calmly listen as someone tells you that something you have poured your heart into has not gone as well as you had thought?

Listening is hard. Listening is necessary. Listening is rewarding. Listening is something I'm going to work on.

New Routines

Here are some potential new steps for the Lawn Chair Brigade... We may need to start practices soon, though.

Biblical Enthusiasm

Below is an excerpt from a soon to be published book, "Reclaiming the 'E' Word". I commend to you the exercise of taking the Bible seriously and asking the questions at the end of this section. It is true that as we engage with the Bible we are encountering God, that Christ has a way of showing up.

Likewise, I believe a lack of enthusiasm for the Biblical story is one of the reasons so many mainline congregations today are floundering. It isn’t just that so often Bible studies are poorly attended or that our meeting “opening devotions” are so anemic. It’s that too few people think in terms of the Biblical stories. They haven’t developed a habit of using the Biblical stories as a lens for understanding their own lives and contexts. And what’s frustrating is that, really, it just wouldn’t take that much effort. I’ve seen congregations come alive because the church council agreed to begin spending half of their time together listening for God’s voice through the Biblical story. I can’t say enough about the power of three simple questions: 1) What do you see God doing in this story?, 2) What do you hear God saying to you, personally, in this story?, 3) What do you hear God saying to us, as a congregation, in this story? I have seen people come alive because they have been courageous enough to dive into the Bible, asking questions like this.

(c) Kelly Fryer, 2007. All rights reserved.

Close to Home

This morning as I was reading a devotional the topic was about loving your wife. Funny how the timing of these things work. Just this morning before coming into the office Dawn and I had a little misunderstanding, a miscommunication, where the end result was that I wasn't very loving. This morning's reminder cut awful close to the heart.

Here is my challenge, though. I grew up in Minnesota, Lutheran, and with Scandinavian heritage. In many ways I embody the stereo-types that come with this sort of background. Oh, I can empathize with the best of them, but showing my very own feelings doesn't come easily. I can relate to the story of Lena on her 50th wedding anniversary saying to her husband Ole, "I wish you would say 'I love you' more often." To which Ole replied, "I said, 'I love you' on our wedding day. I'll let you know when that changes."

So how do you show love without being gushy, lovey-dovey? How do you show you love your spouse? Your family?