My divisional commander said today that halloween is one of his favorite holidays. It is a time when there are no financial pressures of gift buying. It is a time when you don't have to prepare a huge meal. You can just have fun.
I have one thing to add to this...it is a time when you get to meet your neighborhood. You buy some candy and when the parents and the kids come by you exchange pleasantries...with folks you may never have met before.
Now I know many Christians have a problem with halloween. And I am not trying to make a case for or against halloween by this journal. But is it a shame that the most "pagan" holiday has more to do with loving your neighbors than any of the others?
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
Hoop Dreams
Just got back from our Divisional Fall Youth Event.
The event is held at the Georgia Division's Camp. We had around 100 teens. It was THE premier weekend for fall colors in the Georgia mountains. The temperature was cold as far as us southerners understand cold. The wind was blowing most of the day Saturday. I was to organize a three on three basketball tournament on Saturday but only seven guys showed up. So we played four campers against three staff for the "championship" of the weekend. They just don't make delegate basketball players like they used to. As the leaves fell so too fell the hopes and dreams of the camper team, so too fell our shots through the hoop.
For a moment just before we made the last shot to win the second game I reflected back to just a few years ago when I had another great basketball contest on this same campground. It was a one on one affair. The boys had battled hard that day. In the end I had watched as one Drew Forster dropped the championship goal in the basket, ending my hopes of glory. I had vowed that day to never step foot on that court again unless I was prepared. Now three years later here I was about to redeem myself. And then it happened the ball went through the hoop giving us the victory!
There were no great theological sound bites that I have to share from the weekend, no great falling on your face before God and crying out. But there was a simple breeze of the Spirit that covered our times there. There was a deeper understanding of God's presence that seemed to permeate most of what was done throughout the weekend (this of course excludes the fist fight that occurred near the flag football game. No, Phil I wasn't involved in the fight)."
It was fall. There was a newness in the air. I am not sure how leaves dying and warmth leaving somehow gives me a fresh feeling, but it does. It tells me things can be redeemed.
The event is held at the Georgia Division's Camp. We had around 100 teens. It was THE premier weekend for fall colors in the Georgia mountains. The temperature was cold as far as us southerners understand cold. The wind was blowing most of the day Saturday. I was to organize a three on three basketball tournament on Saturday but only seven guys showed up. So we played four campers against three staff for the "championship" of the weekend. They just don't make delegate basketball players like they used to. As the leaves fell so too fell the hopes and dreams of the camper team, so too fell our shots through the hoop.
For a moment just before we made the last shot to win the second game I reflected back to just a few years ago when I had another great basketball contest on this same campground. It was a one on one affair. The boys had battled hard that day. In the end I had watched as one Drew Forster dropped the championship goal in the basket, ending my hopes of glory. I had vowed that day to never step foot on that court again unless I was prepared. Now three years later here I was about to redeem myself. And then it happened the ball went through the hoop giving us the victory!
There were no great theological sound bites that I have to share from the weekend, no great falling on your face before God and crying out. But there was a simple breeze of the Spirit that covered our times there. There was a deeper understanding of God's presence that seemed to permeate most of what was done throughout the weekend (this of course excludes the fist fight that occurred near the flag football game. No, Phil I wasn't involved in the fight)."
It was fall. There was a newness in the air. I am not sure how leaves dying and warmth leaving somehow gives me a fresh feeling, but it does. It tells me things can be redeemed.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Celebration
I am the director at an apartment complex ministry in an immigrant community. After being in the hospital all last week I was able to get back to the apartment this week. I noticed elizabeth and Lucy meeting with some of the kids one on one. When I went over to find out what was going on they kind of shooed me away. After a few minutes all the kids told me they had a secret. They wanted to congratulate me on graduating from Seminary and for getting out of the hospital. They had all signed a card for me.
Now the kids are all between the ages of 7 - 13 (except for Franky age 4 who came with his brother yesterday). So they didn't write the most complex things. But what they wrote really lifted my spirits. Just things like, "We missed you" and "We love you" and my favorite, "Your so cool." Seriously laughed out loud as I typed that!
Receiving--its hard sometimes. I think one of the things I have tried my best to learn lately has been how to receive love from others. How do I soak in the words of these kids? My initial reaction would be to laugh it off, push it away, not think about it. But I am learning to listen, to let love do its work in rejuvenating my heart. And what about God? What might he write on a card?
Now the kids are all between the ages of 7 - 13 (except for Franky age 4 who came with his brother yesterday). So they didn't write the most complex things. But what they wrote really lifted my spirits. Just things like, "We missed you" and "We love you" and my favorite, "Your so cool." Seriously laughed out loud as I typed that!
Receiving--its hard sometimes. I think one of the things I have tried my best to learn lately has been how to receive love from others. How do I soak in the words of these kids? My initial reaction would be to laugh it off, push it away, not think about it. But I am learning to listen, to let love do its work in rejuvenating my heart. And what about God? What might he write on a card?
Monday, October 23, 2006
20th Century Shift
I am reading a book by Franky Shaeffer called, "Addicted to Mediocrity." In it he traces through the 20th century shifts in thinking both in the church and society. His main focus is on the loss of appreciation among Christians for the arts. The chapter I just read is called: "spirituality" and "secularism."
This chapter says that during the 20th century the church began to compartmentalize spirituality. Thus many more people began to live different lives on Sunday than on Monday. Shaeffer says, "If God is some spiritualized 'praise the lord' feeling, then He is not much of a God. Indeed, He is not I AM at all. When our Christianity is allowed to become merely spiritual and inward without the incarnational and outward expressions of God's presence in the world, our faith is no longer meaningful in all areas of life."
Secondly, this chapter says the society of the 20th century was influenced by Darwinism and industrial factors. It became a society that judged things on the basis of how much they could produce. Shaeffer states, "so the tree which once had value, not least of which was its beauty, its shimmering leaves, the dappled shades it cast upon the mossy ground beneath, now only had value because of how many cubic feet of paper could be produced from it."
And people in the church began to be judged in the same way. From Shaeffer's point of view, "Now everything anyone did had to measure up somehow in utilitarian terms in the church..it had to help in its efforts, in its programs, its church growth emphasis week or whatever."
Is there a beauty that is unquantifiable in the Christian's life?
The Sun knew not the beauty of its rays,
When knowledge came to steal the day,
and darkness fell across my eyes,
The Moon reflected the beauty of its cries.
JP
This chapter says that during the 20th century the church began to compartmentalize spirituality. Thus many more people began to live different lives on Sunday than on Monday. Shaeffer says, "If God is some spiritualized 'praise the lord' feeling, then He is not much of a God. Indeed, He is not I AM at all. When our Christianity is allowed to become merely spiritual and inward without the incarnational and outward expressions of God's presence in the world, our faith is no longer meaningful in all areas of life."
Secondly, this chapter says the society of the 20th century was influenced by Darwinism and industrial factors. It became a society that judged things on the basis of how much they could produce. Shaeffer states, "so the tree which once had value, not least of which was its beauty, its shimmering leaves, the dappled shades it cast upon the mossy ground beneath, now only had value because of how many cubic feet of paper could be produced from it."
And people in the church began to be judged in the same way. From Shaeffer's point of view, "Now everything anyone did had to measure up somehow in utilitarian terms in the church..it had to help in its efforts, in its programs, its church growth emphasis week or whatever."
Is there a beauty that is unquantifiable in the Christian's life?
The Sun knew not the beauty of its rays,
When knowledge came to steal the day,
and darkness fell across my eyes,
The Moon reflected the beauty of its cries.
JP
Thursday, October 19, 2006
IVs and RNs
I have been through a pretty discouraging week. Last Friday I noticed what I thought might be a spider bite on my leg. After going to the emergency room I was admitted to the hospital. I thought at the most I might be there overnight and then be back on my feet the next day.
Well, I finally got out today at lunch. I struggled daily to keep my spirits up. The hardest day was yesterday. I thought I was going home at lunch and the doctor didn't even show up to talk to me until after lunch. He told me he wanted me to stay another day so he could get some more antibiotics in me.
It seems that what I had on my leg wasn't necessarily a spider bite but it was an infection that was resistant to penicillin. So the doctors really wanted to treat it through an IV antibiotic.
To make matters worse my skin is extremely sensitive and so my arms kept reacting to the medicine where the IV was inserted. I have seven different bruises left on my arm where the IVs were inserted. As last night neared I tried to cheer myself by telling myself I only had to let them get through one more puncture. Then it all came to a head when a nurse inserted an IV close to my wrist and it hit a nerve.
It hurt so bad. I was tired. She didn't seem to get it. She kept grabbing it and while moving it she would say "well it shouldn't hurt." I guess these were one of those times where the ought tos differ from the ares. Cause it hurt every time she touched it. I was done. I went to sleep without a needle in my arm. I checked out today without the last two doses of antibiotics.
Every day we meet people just like me...tired, hurt,discouraged and about to give up.
Isa 42:3 -
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
So I have to remind myself from this to ask myself about those people I meet and deal with: Are you about to push them over the edge or you helping encourage them towards Christ?
Well, I finally got out today at lunch. I struggled daily to keep my spirits up. The hardest day was yesterday. I thought I was going home at lunch and the doctor didn't even show up to talk to me until after lunch. He told me he wanted me to stay another day so he could get some more antibiotics in me.
It seems that what I had on my leg wasn't necessarily a spider bite but it was an infection that was resistant to penicillin. So the doctors really wanted to treat it through an IV antibiotic.
To make matters worse my skin is extremely sensitive and so my arms kept reacting to the medicine where the IV was inserted. I have seven different bruises left on my arm where the IVs were inserted. As last night neared I tried to cheer myself by telling myself I only had to let them get through one more puncture. Then it all came to a head when a nurse inserted an IV close to my wrist and it hit a nerve.
It hurt so bad. I was tired. She didn't seem to get it. She kept grabbing it and while moving it she would say "well it shouldn't hurt." I guess these were one of those times where the ought tos differ from the ares. Cause it hurt every time she touched it. I was done. I went to sleep without a needle in my arm. I checked out today without the last two doses of antibiotics.
Every day we meet people just like me...tired, hurt,discouraged and about to give up.
Isa 42:3 -
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
So I have to remind myself from this to ask myself about those people I meet and deal with: Are you about to push them over the edge or you helping encourage them towards Christ?
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Saturday, October 07, 2006
From Praise to Dog House
So, this morning, in the shower, I was thinking about the song, "Heart of Worship." I was going over the practical implications of this song for my life. I was praying.
I dried off and headed downstairs with the song still in my head. As I neared the kitchen I spontaneously began to sing it, loudly. Unbeknownst to myself the postman was nearing our front door which was on the other side of the downstairs, and thus out of my sight. Our two rather big dogs, began to howl, at him.
Have you ever heard the joke about when you sing the dogs howl? Needless to say I went from God focused to self consoling in a heart beat.
As I typed this post I began to wonder how many times in life we needless skip from being God-conscious to a self-deprecating consciousness?
I dried off and headed downstairs with the song still in my head. As I neared the kitchen I spontaneously began to sing it, loudly. Unbeknownst to myself the postman was nearing our front door which was on the other side of the downstairs, and thus out of my sight. Our two rather big dogs, began to howl, at him.
Have you ever heard the joke about when you sing the dogs howl? Needless to say I went from God focused to self consoling in a heart beat.
As I typed this post I began to wonder how many times in life we needless skip from being God-conscious to a self-deprecating consciousness?
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Phil Laeger
Saw my friend Phil last weekend. He said I need to write more about things that are going on in my personal life than just events. So for Phil...I went cosmic bowling Saturday night. I was competing hard both games we played the first game Ben edged me out by 4 points. The second game Ben edged me out by one point. The saddest part about it was there were five of us bowling and the first game Ben and I were competing for third place...the second game there were only four bowling and we were competing for third place. And I lost...
Monday, October 02, 2006
Spiritual Warfare
Ephesians 6:10-16 points out that as Christians we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers and principalities.
I am an avid viewer of Fox News and CNN. I especially like the shows where there is a democrat and republican who go head to head with each other. It is interesting the word choices they use to bring negative or positive connotations to their arguments. And most of the time we find the truth is somewhere in the middle.
But it sometimes seems we have turned our church leadership boards into halls of congress. If you use the right catch word your programs get approved. If you align yourself with the right people you receive positions with more influence. Could this whole system be influenced by principalities and spiritual forces?
Perspective is not reality. Perspective may be reality if God did not exist. There is a verse that says God does not only look at the outward appearance but also at the heart. In the same way, leaders feel the pressure of dressing up programs and ministry which are only having limited positive effects in order to keep their credibility and money flow. By comparing these programs to others that may not be wrapped as pretty they gain favor. Many leaders who don't have the skills of promotion and marketing are changing lives but are being harangued by others because of the outward appearance of the program.
I believe it is time for us to go deeper in spiritual leadership. It is time for us transcend the "politics" of human kind and negotiate through the "love" of the kingdom. This will need major prayer. We need to ask to walk by faith and not by sight. We need to ask to be emptied of selfish ambition. We need to ask for Holy vision.
Right now we are calling out for revival. I don't know how that might begin? Maybe it begins with our churches having massive emotional events. Or maybe it begins with us leaders, on our knees, putting on the belt of truth, so that we may fight against the temptations of negative leadership.
I am an avid viewer of Fox News and CNN. I especially like the shows where there is a democrat and republican who go head to head with each other. It is interesting the word choices they use to bring negative or positive connotations to their arguments. And most of the time we find the truth is somewhere in the middle.
But it sometimes seems we have turned our church leadership boards into halls of congress. If you use the right catch word your programs get approved. If you align yourself with the right people you receive positions with more influence. Could this whole system be influenced by principalities and spiritual forces?
Perspective is not reality. Perspective may be reality if God did not exist. There is a verse that says God does not only look at the outward appearance but also at the heart. In the same way, leaders feel the pressure of dressing up programs and ministry which are only having limited positive effects in order to keep their credibility and money flow. By comparing these programs to others that may not be wrapped as pretty they gain favor. Many leaders who don't have the skills of promotion and marketing are changing lives but are being harangued by others because of the outward appearance of the program.
I believe it is time for us to go deeper in spiritual leadership. It is time for us transcend the "politics" of human kind and negotiate through the "love" of the kingdom. This will need major prayer. We need to ask to walk by faith and not by sight. We need to ask to be emptied of selfish ambition. We need to ask for Holy vision.
Right now we are calling out for revival. I don't know how that might begin? Maybe it begins with our churches having massive emotional events. Or maybe it begins with us leaders, on our knees, putting on the belt of truth, so that we may fight against the temptations of negative leadership.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
WB
Tonight, I met a guy who is the great grandson (or something like that) of William Booth. For some reason I felt a strange urge to touch him. Now I am not one who creates SA icons are anything but there is something down in my heart that just has a reverance for the man who started it all. Anybody know what I mean?
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