My 2 cents – long vs. short

Okay, this is what started this thought process… the subject of short attention spans and if sermons should be broken up.

My two cents- for what they are worth… To set the background, I originally came from a church where the sermons were 12.3 minutes long.  Then I come over to Westside where the sermons are something like 29.8 minutes long. 

Now the comparison: The 12.3 minutes sermon – (and throw out the lead pastor equation), I walked away each Sunday feeling pretty good, remembering a lot of the message, thinking about my faith, thinking about God, wanting to know more.

The 29.8 minute sermon – (again throw out the lead pastor equation), I  walk away each Sunday feeling pretty good, remember a lot of the message, thinking about my faith, thinking about God, wanting to know more.  In addition, I feel challenged, compelled, and alive.  When I look at my watch, thinking a couple of minutes have passed, 20 have.  

Think about it this way – if you go to a party and it is a dud – 5 minutes is too much.  If you to a party and it is THE place to be – you are wishing you had 5 more minutes.

So, what does that mean to me?  If the message is dead on – the audience will respond.  Time will fly by.  It is the party you want to be at.  If you are having a blast “at the party” – you are laughing at the message, crying at the message, struggling with the message, holding your hands up in response to the message.  If all that is true, in my mind, if you go to a “station break” it is hard to get that back.

Is that a good thing?  I don’t know.  It could be.  I understand the need for sound bites.  They even make sense in various settings – especially on the internet.  But there is something to be said about the “noise” in our life – the need to be connected to everything and only getting a portion of the story, and from there basing our actions and beliefs on that piece of the story.  

Another guy I follow talked about something similar yesterday.  It is rather long in terms of a blog, but read it and you will see what he is getting at.  In particular he said, “I think in our culture of today’s sound bite mentality we no longer have the ability to absorb and understand the whole story.  We don’t have the time, nor do we care, we just come to some conclusion, right or wrong, and move on.  This is the same with friends, co-workers, acquaintances, or just those passing by on the street.  We are so busy that we only have time to take a snap shot of the things that pass through our life and then forget about it and move on.”

I hope we still have the ability to absorb the whole story.  I hope you can stay still long enough.  I understand the need for sound bites. But I cannot help but wonder what that says about our ability to stop and listen to God? To tune out the noise in our life and to tune into Him?

I don’t know… but this is my ramble for the day.

 

UGH

It is an UGH Day.  The weather is changing… the rain is getting ready to start. The weather man is promising hail tomorrow morning during rush hour.  I am triple book this evening. 

Lately I never stop to look around – except when there is an accident. 

Worrying is taking hold again.  My dad is heading back next week for another follow up cancer checkup.  Two small specs appeared on his lung and kidney not long ago.  They may have been there before.  If they are growing – the cancer is back (or never really left).  If they are the same – we keep an eye on them.

I have been wondering a lot about faith, love, reaching out, sacrafice, commitment, expectations, silent periods, loud periods, my role.  I am afraid sometimes to ask God for fear of what the answer will be.

I have been thinking about riding my bike and my lack of excerise lately.  The mountain bike is begging to be ridden, and riding on the trails is a nice outlet for me to think, pray, and enjoy the moment.

I am writing another song, and I am getting back into photography as well (in a very small way).  So, I am trying to understand this creative passion that I have right now and push it forward in a way that will help someone. 

What about you…

What’s in a word

Here is my wordle for the week…

 

I am not sure what it means when I see the word “everything” so big right there in the middle.  Hmmm.

Impact

Mandy asked a couple of straight forward questions on her blog today… and it got me thinking about my life…today…in this place…at this stage in life… and here is what I came up with:

Do I dream? – yes.

Do I have a dream? – yes.

What is it? – to impact the world.

Are you chasing after it? – yes – with the small things that I do everyday, the steps that I take, the words that I write, the words that I chose to speak or not speak, all with the thought that everything matters. 

I am chasing my dream by living a mission trip daily in my own home for my wife and kids – and as a result for me. 

I am chasing my dream by praying in unison with my brothers and sisters, with my men’s group, in church, or by myself. 

I am chasing my dream by choosing to make a difference in the life of someone, somewhere, at some point.

I am chasing my dream with God’s help – for I am not strong enough otherwise. 

Right now, my steps are small.  Who knows about tomorrow, but I am chasing a dream.

Totally perfect? – or not so much?

Author Lois Cheney tells a story about a man who clung to the railing of his life. It goes like this:

 

“The man saw people love each other, and he saw that all love made strenuous demands on the lovers. He saw love requires sacrifice and self-denial. He saw love produce arguments and anguish, and he decided that it cost too much. He decided not to diminish life with love.

 

He saw people strive for distant goals. He saw men and women pursue high, high ideals, and he saw that striving was frequently mixed with disappointment…And he decided that it cost too much. He decided not to soil his life with striving.

 

He saw people serving others. He saw men give money to the poor and helpless, and he saw the more they served, the faster the need grew. He saw some ungrateful receivers turn on their serving friends. And he decided not to soil his life with serving.

 

And when he died, he walked up to God and presented him with his life. Undiminished, unmarred, and unsoiled, his life was clean from the filth of the world, and he presented it proudly, saying, “This is my life.” And the great God said, “What life?”

 

 

 

How to change the world

I recently read that we all impact the world one way or another.  That we should recognize that everything we do, every step we take, every sentence we write, every word we speak-or DON’T speak–counts. Nothing is trivial. The world may be big, but there are no small things.

 

Everything matters.

 

Everything counts.

 

It is easy for me to forget this point – to forget that there is power in words and actions – to forget that there is also power in moments of silence and inaction.  

 

Everything matters.

 

Everything counts.

 

At some point in our life we will have to explain those moments of inaction or our lack of voice.  We will also have to explain the choice of our words and actions we took.

 

Everything matters.

 

Everything counts.