Weekends are great

This was the weekend to look back and say that was fun.  First off let me say that the weather was great this weekend.  Upper 70s low 80s for the day time highs.  Sunny skies.  Ha…

With that said, after work on Friday we were off to a Catholic wedding of a friend’s son.  I have never been to a Catholic wedding, and I must say that I had fun and learn to appreciate some of the structure of the wedding and service.  I miss that sometimes with our more contemporary service.   From there we were off to the reception and some dancing for my wife.  We had some dance lessons not long ago, so we were ready to so our stuff… but alas, modern music and the waltz really don’t go well together.  That’s fine, slow dancing with my wife was great… to round out the night, and open bar, great food, some great music, and the kids were at my sister-in-law’s house…what a Friday.  

Saturday – woke up late, grabbed a bite of breakfast with my wife at the local IHOP (BOGO coupon) and had great service.  I must say that service has slipped a lot in my area, and you really do notice with the services is great – thanks Calvin – great service.  Picked up the kids, mowed the lawn, and headed off to some friends house for a nice dinner and a beer.  Played Mario Brothers on the Wii for the first time… Home by midnight.  Relaxing to say the least.

Sunday was church in the AM, home by 11:30 with the hope of seeing my mom and dad who came down for the weekend… only to get home to hear the message that mom had a migraine, and they headed home.  Crap is all I can say – I have not seen my dad in awhile, and I was really looking forward to it.  In addition, my daughters and wife have not seen him since the treatments began so they were looking forward to seeing him as well.  Oh well… this was the only bump (albeit a big one).  With that option gone, I headed out for a slow, semi-long bike ride.  I have not ridden very much so the 1.75 hours and 25 miles of grinding it out on the flats and hills felt great.  Grinding it out on the road bike, not the mountain bike.  Follow that up with a great dinner, hitting golf balls in the backyard with my nephew, preparing for our Colorado trip and life is good.

Life is good… 

Pete Wilson’s Blog on “God Bless America?”

You know how certain topics or blogs just suck you in and make you stop for a moment.  Make you realize that what was bugging you a moment ago really shouldn’t matter.  Well, this mammoth blog is a nice little reminder for me during moments like that.  The next time the waiter forgets to bring me another loaf of bread, while eating out at my favorite restaurant, after just filling up my car, and topping the night off with an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen – I need to come back and read Pete’s post.

And that was the case for me today when I read this blog… this is another post to make you think, cry and wonder… check out Pete Wilson’s page.

I will sum it up with my favorite word of the year – ugh… 

What does the Church and the pogo stick have in common

Stumbled across a blog recently … and felt like I would add to the discussion.  Following is my comments I left on his blog… these answers were first thought only and therefore may need to be changed as I look through them closer, but this was my gut reaction.  First his post:

 Living In Springfield, Mo has its advantages and disadvantages. The area is an awesome place to raise a family, but the church culture here is certainly different than what I experienced in Chicago. One thing that has irritated me since I moved here was the amount of “transient Christianity” that abounds. It is nothing for someone to hop from one church to the next for no reason at all, or for the silliest reasons. I loved what Tim Stevens put in his blog today. Check it out…

Dearest Career Church Hopper: I met you again on Wednesday, the same person smiling at me through a different face, telling me that you’ve been shopping for churches for months now, and that darn it, you “just can’t find one (you) like.” The music’s too rocky at this one, you said; the preacher too funny at that one. The latest one might make the cut, though: you’d had the pastor and his wife over the previous evening for a little “dinner audition” — your words, not mine — and he said things that made you feel good and comfortable, things that you already agree with, so you’re thinking about sticking around. At the very least, you could get your teaching from this church and your worship from that one. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again, but before we do, I’d like to suggest some things you could perhaps think about before you move on to the next church, as I’m sure you will, whether this weekend or next year:

• Christ didn’t bleed for the Church so you could treat your search for one like an episode of Survivor, deciding who to vote off the island this week.
• The Church was not commissioned by Christ to meet your needs. You ARE the Church, and you’ve been commissioned to meet the needs of the world.
• Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her (Eph 5:25). Quit treating his bride like a Jesus buffet where you can pick and choose what you like, hedging your bets against the pain and sacrifice of making a commitment.
• Per scripture’s instructions to use your gifts in service to the Body of Christ — and its lack of instruction to search for a church that scratches you where you itch — you might want to consider what the Church you’re visiting needs from you, rather than the other way around.
• If you only want to hear things you already know and agree with, save your Sundays and talk to yourself in the bathroom mirror.

Sincerely, The Preacher’s Wife You can read more at Tim’s blog.

 

Now my response:

This is from someone who knows about this personally, finding the right fit is sometimes hard. I think there are times when God leads us to one church, and then leads us to another. Part of the change is associated with personal growth on my part, and other times to add my skills (in part) to the new church – that is my thought anyway. To me, being part of the church with a capital C is just that… believing in Christ and carrying out his word – not being stuck to one church with a little c. What makes that hard for the modern day church is the fact that I may take my dollars and move to another church. I may take my volunteer time and go somewhere else. That makes it challenging for them to plan as they do. Totally understand that.  But I love the way one former pastor said it, “You belong in the church that God pulls you to, not in the church I want you to be in.”

Now with that comes the following with some additional comments to think through:

“Christ didn’t bleed for the Church so you could treat your search for one like an episode of Survivor, deciding who to vote off the island this week.”  Christ didn’t bleed for the Church with a little c – he bleed for you and me and we make up the Church with a big C.  But, I totally agree that we should not disrespect any part of the big C church.  I totally agree that we should not treat anyone like some of the comments noted above.  To me that is someone who is out for themselves rather than falling before God and asking what He would like for them to do.  Sometimes it is not fun to be in a church that needs help… but maybe that is why a person is placed there.

“The Church was not commissioned by Christ to meet your needs. You ARE the Church, and you’ve been commissioned to meet the needs of the world.”  Again totally agree… I am commissioned to meet the needs of the world … and to carry that one step further not to meet only the needs of any one church with a little c.  Should I help because they are part of the big C Church – absolutely.

“Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her (Eph 5:25). Quit treating his bride like a Jesus buffet where you can pick and choose what you like, hedging your bets against the pain and sacrifice of making a commitment.”  Again His bride was the church with a big C not a little c – but do show more respect than what was shown above.  The church with a big C is his bride… and the little c churches are the parts of the Big C.

“Per scripture’s instructions to use your gifts in service to the Body of Christ — and its lack of instruction to search for a church that scratches you where you itch — you might want to consider what the Church you’re visiting needs from you, rather than the other way around.” – touching on what I said above, maybe God had different plans for me… maybe He wanted me to use those God given talents to help another little c church or even the big C church.  Not a personal issue, just following orders if you will.

“If you only want to hear things you already know and agree with, save your Sundays and talk to yourself in the bathroom mirror.”  Maybe that is what caused the change to begin with… hearing the same thing, or I got to a point in my faith where the little c church did nothing to continue that growth. 

For me it all comes down to the following:  

If a church is loosing members… figure out why.  Did the minister or pastor use the same sermon every season?  Is he challenging the congregation to think and act more Christ like – or just sitting on the sidelines preaching on Sunday.  Some love to sit on the sidelines… some don’t – you need to figure out what you want to be and determine if that is good enough…not just for you, but for God.  Also, to encourage me to “save my Sundays” because you think that I am church hopping solely because of the sermon and whether or not I know or agree with that sermon – well, that is pretty closed minded.  That might be a clue as to why people leave a little c church.

My thought is rather than be discouraged  with someone stopping by and moving on, you should continue to keep on telling the story… singing the song… if you are loosing people – figure out why… if you are gaining people – figure out why.  In today’s society, life is not about standing still – during Christ life it wasn’t about standing still – it was about growing and adapting and changing.  

It was all about becoming more Christ like.

Romans 3: 9-20 – Blogger Small Group

 

This is my installment for the Blogger Small Group post on Romans chapter 3. There is always time for anyone to join in if they like (seeBlogger Small Group Rules/Guidlelines). Right now we are a few weeks into the group, which started in James.

No need to try and catch up, just start in the same place we are and post your opinions.

This is laying the ground work for me.  The “don’t put yourself above another” kind of ground work.  Everyone sins, plain and simple.  Everyone stumbles, plain and simple.  It is what we did prior to that sin and following that sin which will make the difference.  If we believe our good deeds will get us somewhere – well we are in trouble.  If we believe in Jesus and what he did for us, and I am not talking about an every Sunday morning type of believe, I am talking about an every second type of believe – then that gap is filled.  God is there.  

No One is Righteous

vs 9-18 We are all not worthy.  Paul is laying that out for us.  This includes the Jews and the Gentiles.  Everyone sins.  Specificially he is talking about behavior.  I just get the feeling that Paul is saying – just because you are a Jew don’t think you’ve got it made – that they shouldn’t be less fearful of God.  And then he throws in the kicker… if measured from God’s standard of goodness Jesus says that no one is good– except God alone.

v19 I have read that this implies that all are under the law, since all are held guilty. But there are those that are not aware of the law of Moses, so does this say that the “law” is the law of the conscience. That they must do good and live according to their own conscience?  If so, can anyone even live up to their own standards, let alone God’s.  If the law is referring to conscience as well and they don’t understand or know what Jesus did for us, will they be judged differently?  I think about a friend of mine who believes “in God” just not Jesus.  She lives a pretty good life, does things for others, etc.  So what does that mean for her?  

v20 At first glance I was thinking this moved us back to the book of James, just because you know the law does not mean you obey the law.  Knowing and doing are two different things.  But here it states, “through the law we become conscious of sin.”  If we are aware of the sin, and ignore it then that is even worse.  Man you really have to hate a conscious…:D

This is basically a good reminder that, since God expects sinless behavior, having sinned righteousness cannot be obtained by doing good- especially since one can live a life of always doing good. With that in mind, doing good cannot make up for doing bad. Rather justice demands a penalty to be paid.  Thus Jesus.

Thus Jesus… thus Jesus… thus Jesus… 

Where are we…

 

I have been thinking a lot lately about what God wanted the church to look like.  Is what we are seeing today what He intended it to look like?  Are we getting out enough… are we challenging enough… are we loving enough… are we welcoming enough… are we bible based… are we united in our love and affection for Christ… A lot of questions from me without a lot of answers, but to me it feels like there are so many divisions in the church today.  There are even divisions within the same church, within the same city/ state/or country, within the same denominations, within the protestant religion, etc. Over the years, it just feels like we have moved so far one direction or the other that it really doesn’t represent what God intended us to do with the church – church with a capital C.  Yet there are amazing things happening as well.  In fact there are churches out there doing it, loving Jesus, getting out there, and turning the world upside down.  But there are others that are more social and more about the latte on the one day of the week that they praise Him.  This is just an interesting topic for me and one that has come up lately.  What do you think?

 

Every feel like this…

Isn’t it funny how you see a picture and think – that is me – that is my life.  Well this picture represents my year… and oh what a long 2008… this has been an emotional roller coaster of a year.  For those who do not know me or my life, I have been wrestling with the fact that my dad was diagnosed with stage 4A squamous cancer in January.  Because others feel I am the strong one, I put myself out there to help, to give, to support. The biggest thing I had to deal with obviously was my dad’s health, but I also worried about him… you know – worried like I didn’t know I could. I worried about mom and dad’s financial health, mom’s emotional and physical health, my little sister as it related to dad and also a lot of other things separate from my dad, to my other sister (again separate from my anything to do with my dad), to x… to y… to z… I know if I place everything in God’s hands and not worry, life will go a lot better than how I am doing bumbling along, but man talk about a tough 6 months… Man talk about the stubbornness on my part for not turning things over.

Then you add in the stress of family life, work life, and spiritual life  – well life seem to stop for a minute for me.  Not actually stop, but I stopped and looked around at all aspects of my life.  I realized that there are parts that were being left out, others that were getting to much, and others that hadn’t been touched in awhile.  All this lead to the feeling of the coffee cup – slowing sagging… slowing failing.

Last week, I switched cups – and now my cup is a little taller.  My dad got great news about his cancer.  We are ecstatic…we still are.  Life is good for another day!   With regard to the other pieces in my life – well I will try again to turn them over.  In the interim, I continue to say my short prayer – God, please help me, guide me and teach me.