rhinocrash

Praise

2007-05-29T14:26:00.000-05:00

"Praise the Lord..." Psalm 150

Each of the stanzas in the last psalm in the book of psalms in the Hebrew Bible begins with the simple phrase, "praise the Lord." No one can leave reflecting on that psalm asking, "now what was the main point again?"

This morning, I read this psalm at it left me unnerved. I didn't feel like praising God not because I don't like to worship or think worship is unimportant. It's just that I wasn't feeling that excited about God. It seemed like after I read it that the psalmist really wanted me to praise God...as if it was his need, not mine, to praise God and he wanted me to do what he wanted me to do. I resisted. I'm not overally dramatic with my worship. I've never raised my hands to the sky nor lost my self in awe of God's majesty. I'm Lutheran after all. I have closed my eyes to focus and I have been moved in worship to sing honestly and been moved to tears...all a sign of the Spirit at work in the service and in my life. But I've never shouted, "Praise the Lord..." as some Christians do. There isn't a thing wrong with that...it's just me.

Then God reminded me of the real issue in my life right now, why I felt unnerved by the psalm.
My experience this morning with the psalm was kind of like my experience watching a football game. Usually between the crowd and the action on the football field are the cheerleaders who enthusiastically encourage the crowd to join them in cheering for the team and rooting them on to victory. Unless one of the cheerleaders in the squad is a family member, friend, or someone we have a crush upon, most of us pay little attention to them. We focus on the game. The cheerleaders are nice, but not important to the game overall. No offense to cheerleaders. But most of us would also say if the cheerleaders were taken away from the game we would miss them.

I wonder if this is what I perceive worship and/or daily prayer with God to be like...a nice part of life, but essentially unnecessary to the important action happening in the "real world" of life on the field. I reality though it is God who creates this real world and I/we cannot seperate worship and life. Worship is life and life is worship...this afterall is the point of the Psalm, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" (chickens, ostriches, infants, grandpas, aunts, men, women, boys, jaguars, etc). As we move and live we live in praise of God...by virtue of our existence. I was unnerved by the psalm because I began to seperate in my mind what is not intended to be seperated, worship and life.

Thank you Lord for the reminder to worship you in all things...whether writing this blog, talk on my cell, washing my son's dirty feet, riding a bike, or whatever. In all things, let your name be praised. Praise the Lord.

Thanks for reading.

Random clapper

2007-05-21T13:17:00.000-05:00

Saturday night I sat behind the random clap starter. A great American hero Budweiser? Maybe not, but it was a unique experience. "Random clap starter?" you ask. It's the person who deems the point made by a speaker during a talk inspirational and/important and thus begins to clap and the rest of the group follows suit. In a crowd of 3000 people I sat behind that guy. During the talk on stage, the guy in front of me four times started the random clap. After the first time, his son, probably 20 years old looks over at him with awe and says, "Dad, you began the random clap." The guy didn't respond because he was too engrossed in the speaker's content. The wave of clapping was begun by a middle aged guy sitting near the back of thousands of people, right in front of me. Did I respond to his initiation? Yes, claps are like yawns, they are infectious.

The random clap that I'm waiting to experience is the one we see in movies, mostly in high school movies where the "nerd" turns hero. At that moment, always near the end of the movie, the cool kids who had previously been the arch nemesises (what is the plural of nemesis anyway), stand near the "nerd" after his/her moment of triumph. He/she has finally gained their respect and usually one guy starts clapping slowly and forcefully: clap..........clap.........clap........and then others begin to join in....clap...clap..clap...and the speeds picks up into a wave of clapping....clap, clap, clap, clap...I've never seen this in real life, but I've always wanted to be the one who starts the slow, forceful random clap.

Here's to you Mr Random Clap Starter...

Thanks for reading...

Tragic

2007-04-16T12:20:00.000-05:00

What is going on in the world? Moments ago, I heard the story that over twenty people on the Virginia Tech campus were killed by a gunman. Apparently he or she opened fire in a co-ed dorm and then in the engineering building. The news is quite tragic. The quiet of a college dorm and academic hall early on a Monday morning is interrupted by the sound of gunfire. The peace of a early spring morning turns to chaos. Terrible. Terrible. May our prayers rise before you like incense O God for those who suffer loss and those who are terrified.

Through the darkness

2007-04-02T09:41:00.000-05:00

This morning I tripped over a familiar passage from Psalm 23, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil for you are with me..." I tripped because I unconsciously added words not written in the translation I read. I added, Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil..." Turns out the Hebrew word immediately after "valley" in the original can be translated either, "death valley" or "dark valley". And yet I found myself glad that death wasn't added to my translation, not because I don't like the subject (nor do I like it either), but because it spoke to much of my reality. I face the unknown daily, tomorrow is darkness to me as it is to all of us. None of us can see past this moment. Death, while always a possibility for each of us, isn't always a subject we ponder...hopefully. And like all of us, there are times in life that I face the darkness of difficult times when it feels like hope is gone and darkness surrounds me. In that moment, whether wondering about tomorrow or trying to get through the darkness of difficulty, God is there.

God is there, not to dispel the darkness. We have to walk through the darkness...we move through it. The psalmist reminds us that God doesn't necessarily shed light on the path. What God does is protect us from the enemies that beset us in the darkness.

My son is now afraid of the dark. We didn't do anything to cause this fear by telling him monsters lurked in the closet or under his bed. One night after we had turned out the light in the hallway outside his room and darkness surrounded him, he said, "Daddy, I'm afraid of the shadows." His night light had been casting shadows on to the wall beside his bed. I reassured him that there was nothing to around that could hurt him, that he is safe, and if there is anything I would be there to protect him. He rested.

How much more for our lives? How many times do we express fear when "darkness" surrounds us, and God says, "No worries my child...I will fight for you." How many shadows have frightened us...images of what might happen, what could be, what we think is there but really isn't...when reality is that these shadows in the dark can do nothing to us? God is with us. We fear no evil...God's rod and staff to drive away enemies is used.

Thanks for reading.

Changing the world

2007-03-19T10:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I picked up U2's album "October" from 1981. Sheesh...how 26 years old! What possessed me to buy this CD of early U2, I don't know; add it to my collection I guess. One song in particular caught my attention "Rejoice" (lyrics below), and especially one line in the song, "I can't change the world, but I can change the world in me." There is so much truth to that phrase...Changing the world starts from within our own lives. We experience the truth of this if we've grown up or live in a dysfunctional family. One person's dysfunction affects the rest of the family system. Conversely, one person's emotional, mental, and spiritual health will have a positive affect on a family.

The lyrics to the song also echo the ancient words from Paul to the Christians in Philippi, "Rejoice in the Lord always...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, thing about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:4, 8-9). In the face of difficulty around us, we dare to rejoice in God's goodness and grace.

It's falling it's falling
And outside the buildings
Are tumbling down
And inside a child on the ground
Says he'd do it again

And what am I to do
What in the world am I to say
There's nothing else to do
He says he'll change the world someday
I rejoice

He's building, I'll follow
In my bed when I woke up
To what he has said
Everything's crazy
But I'm too lazy to lie

And what am I to do
Just tell me what am I supposed to say
I can't change the world
But I can change the world in me
If I rejoice
Rejoice...

And what am I to do
Just tell me what am I supposed to say
I can't change the world
But I can change the world in me
If I rejoice

I don't know what to change
Rejoice...

Taste and smell history

2007-03-13T08:28:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to the Ohio Historical Society's preservation office and warehouse where historical artifacts not in the museum are stored. My purpose was to view some of the Civil War battle flags from Ohio regiments.

At one point in the tour, our guide opened a sealed case probably 10 feet wide and 8 feet tall that held 10-15 of the flags in a climate controlled chamber. When he opened the doors the smell of woods fires and the sulfur of gunpowder, still left in the fabric after nearly 145 years permeated the air. I was smelling history.

Every Sunday churches around the world have the opportunity to taste history. Each time we take the bread and wine, Christ's body and blood, we taste history...the history of God's rich mercy and love extended to people through every generation. We're reenacting a small, a very small, a miniscule portion of the Jewish Passover celebration which recalls God's amazing freedom fighting to get his people out of Egypt. Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, celebrated the Passover with his friends and took the middle of the three pieces of unleavened bread, breaking it as the head of the household does in the Passover seder, and distributed to his disciples saying, "Take and eat. This is my body broken for you." After supper, the gospels record, Jesus took the cup of wine, the cup of redemption, and after giving thanks (Blessed are you Lord God of the universe because you give us the fruit of the vine) gave it to his disciples saying, "Take and drink. This is my blood shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin." Redemption.

Every Sunday, we get to taste history as I got to smell American history. What an honor.

Post-India thoughts

2007-02-06T07:49:00.000-05:00

Since I've returned from around the world, I've wondered about what I experienced while there. Certainly traveling there and spending a week with the BFLC was a blessing and honor, but I still feel like to don't fully comprehend what happened there, especially given all of the difficulties I faced from the train to car sickness. I feel in a way like Peter getting his feet washed by Jesus recorded in John. Peter refuses Jesus' washing, but the Lord says, "Right now you don't know what I am doing, but later you will understand." Complete understanding about the trip will come in time.

In the meantime, I realized that one of the great values of traveling to India are the relationships that are maintained. A friend of mine puts it this way about life, "Relationships are not the main thing, they are the only thing." I agree with my whole heart. The relationships I've gained with the Indian pastors are valuable. The difference between this trip and a year ago in January of 2006, is that I was able to joke around with the pastors this time because of the growing friendship between us. Each afternoon during the symposium, the conference took a break for tea. Most of the American visitors didn't drink the tea and opted for soda. I chose the tea. Each afternoon one of the pastors as we were walking together toward the steps going down to the break area would ask me, "You take tea?" I would reply, "Yes of course," and Jakiah or Rajesh would walk faster ahead of me to get me some chai (tea). On Wednesday afternoon we stood there together and some of the pastors were teasing John Babu calling him, "Raipa" which I was told meant, "rock." Babu played along with the fun-natured ribbing, and because I know these guys I was able to play along. We laughed together. There is a beautiful bond that happens when people laugh together.

Later in the week Jakiah, one of the pastors, asks me my age and when I told him he was shocked that we were the same age. He said, "Not only can I practice speaking English with you, you are my friend." I agreed.

There is a growing relationship between All Saints and Nachugunta. It's one thing to talk about a village called Nachugunta and hear about their struggles and joys as a people. It's another thing to meet the pastor there, Sudir and his wife, to shake hands with the people, and to bring back pictures of the people of Nachugunta to show the folks at All Saints. While the new church wasn't completed at Nachugunta when I visited, I was able to share with them one of the banners from All Saints which is a picture of the church building, but made up of the various faces of the families here. Even for the people there in India, I was able to show them the faces of people who care about the gospel and others as much as we do here. Bottom line, relationships were sustained.

We need people. That point was reinforced over and over in my mind being there. As the train sped back to Hyderabad on Friday afternoon from Guntur, I went out to the door to the coach and stood there enjoying the breeze and fresh air. At one point as we went by a small rural Indian village the thought crossed my mind that at the next stop I could simply get off this train and walk away. My friends wouldn't know where I went. There is no way I would ever do such a thing, ever. What kept me on the train? Relationships with those traveling with me and my family in the U.S. Even if I had gotten off the train, I still would need relationships. I couldn't have survived alone for long. We need people. We need God.

Thanks for reading.

Moriah Children's Home--Friday, Jan. 19

2007-01-31T08:28:00.000-05:00

The morning began with a visit to the Moriah Children's Home to present the banner Diana Miller made from some artwork children from All Saints created. Karuna Dasari arranged the have all of the students from the Moriah School assembled for a program. I went with Michael and Donna Albrecht as well as the three college age women working with the BFLC until June. We were blessed to hear probably a dozen songs sung by the children. Donna and the young women reciprocated with songs of their own. I also had the opportunity to present the banner and brings greetings to them from the All Saints community. It was a nice start to the day.

After the program, we jumped in a car so that Karuna could show us one of the areas just outside Guntur, Swarna Bharathi Nagar, that burned in August of 2006. 1500 thatched home were burnt to the ground. From the BFLC newsletter of December, "Nothing was left in these home after the fires, and already poor people were left with even less. About 60 children come to Moriah School from there. These children lost their school uniforms, supplies, and books in the fire." Fortunately, no was killed because the fire happened during the day. The children were at school and at least one parent was at work. Those who were there were able to escape the flames. However, when kids and others returned after a day at school and work all they found was a smoldering piece of land where their homes once stood. For the past six months families have lived in makeshift tent buildings as they await the construction of new homes at the expense of the Indian government. The fire started after an argument between two families. One family decided to burn the other families house to the ground in an act of retaliation. I think there is a lesson here about conflict, to all of us, even in the U.S.

The pictures show both the affected area, and the neighborhood right next to it that didn't burn. The thatched roof homes in the unaffected area are what the burned area used to look like.

After lunch, we boarded the train to travel back to Hyderabad to catch our flight to the U.S. at 3am Saturday morning. Peter and Daniel, the two pastors who had met me in Hyderabad when I arrived escorted us to the station in Guntur. I joked with them saying, "I'm staying on the train this time!" (Read the BLOG "Arrival in Hyderadad--Saturday, Jan. 13" for the story.) We all laughed.

Once in Hyderabad, Shalem Raju called Dr. Luther Paul of the AELC (Andrha Evangelical Lutheran Church) seminary in Guntur so that we could meet with him and a couple of the professors there . Following our meeting, Dr. Paul invited us to his home for dinner with he and his family and then allowed us to stay at his home to rest before we headed to the airport around 12:30am. A blessing to end our trip.

Nachugunta, India--Thursday, Jan. 18

2007-01-29T21:57:00.000-05:00

Thursday morning we met with all of the 35+ plus pastors of the BFLC to discuss the important topic of ordination of nine of them in January of 2008. After a three and half hour meeting, it was decided to appoint Pastor Shalem Raju as the lead pastor of the BFLC and the officiant of the ordinations. It was an important and historic step in the development of the BFLC ministry, and a natural choice to formally appoint Shalem as the spiritual leader of the group.

The meeting started and ended much later than we had planned. We had hoped to leave Guntur for Nachugunta no later than noon. Unfortunately, we didn't sit down for lunch until around 1:30pm and didn't get in the Safari until 2pm. It would be another three hours until we'd get to the edge of the Krishna River to take the pontoon across the river to the island where Nachugunta is located.

When we got to the pontoon at 5pm there were a few people milling around the shore line waiting the arrival of the pontoon from the island. Fifteen minutes later, it docked on our side, but no one got on. We found out that we'd have to wait for the bus that travels to and from local villages daily to arrive because it carried passengers for the boat. Forty-five minutes later, we finally got on the pontoon and began to cross the Krishna. It was 6pm.

Here's the problem we faced at 6pm: The sun was setting and the last pontoon from the island to the mainland was at 7pm. As we stood their helplessly waiting for the bus to arrive, we saw our time that we'd be able to spend with the people of the congregation slipping away from us, as well as our ability to see the new construction in daylight. Much to our disappointment we realized that our visit would have to very, very brief. Three hours of travel for a very short visit. Not to mention that the entire three hour ride I was car sick.

6:00pm: We begin to cross the Krishna. On our way we met a young man, in his early 20s, who had grown up in the Moriah Home most of his childhood. (The Moriah Home is the orphanage run by the BFLC that houses arond 50 children ages 5-16 year round). He was heading back to spend time with his family in Nachugunta. He was one of the success stories that the Moriah Home is blessed to hear. After leaving the home, he furthered his education and now works in advertising in Tenali and is doing very well in life. If the Moriah Home hadn't been in existence, who know what would have happened to him.
6:15pm: We arrive on the island and head for the Nachugunta
6:30pm: We park the Safari at the end of a very rough dirt road and walk the rest of the 1/4 mile to the church located at the edge of the village. We begin to examine the construction of the new church building located behind the existing structure. The pictures above of the people outside the existing church building are of congregation members leaving worship at the beginning of January. Below you can see the progress of the construction. The church is about half of the way done. It has been a slower process than anticipated because of the difficulty of getting building materials from a village on the mainland to Nachugunta. The construction will unfortunately be halted for the month of February because the pontoon will be out of service for repairs.

Before we left, we went into the existing sanctuary for prayer and for me to be able to present to the Nachugunta congregation a banner from All Saints. We feel blessed to be part of the partnership to build this congregation's new building. We headed over to Pastor Sudir's house and met his wife and two small children and then unfortunately had to head back to the Safari and then to the pontoon. Many of the people escorted us to our SUV. One woman said to us before we left, "Thank you so much for coming. Next time, please stay longer." We all agreed and wished we could have stayed to share dinner with them.

We got back to the pontoon just in time and arrived back at the Moriah Home around 11pm that evening. Yes, unfortunately, I did manage to get carsick the entire ride back to Guntur.

Wednesday, January 17

2007-01-29T09:56:00.000-05:00

Pastor Michael Albrecht of St. James Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota presented at the symposium, "Preaching the Gospel Lessons." He began by providing a brief overview of the four gospels and the rhythm of the church year. He ended with an examination of the lectionary texts assigned for the four Sundays following the symposium so that the pastors could have a head start in their sermon preparation for the next few weeks.

Also speaking was Dr. Busi Suneel Bhanu, a pastor in the AELC, and currently teaching at the Gurkul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute in Chennai. He presented on the topic, "Revisioning Lutheran Faith and Role of Pastors in the Dalit Church." I found that having two Indian presenters among the Americans was important because they could speak directly to issues affecting the church today in India, such as Dr. Bhanu's topic. In the future, my hope would be that the symposium is dominated by Indian scholars with an occasional presenter from overseas.

Wednesday afternoon I had the chance to swing a cricket bat. From the balcony overlooking the courtyard at the Andrha Christian College where the symposium was held I noticed some kids playing cricket. I went down just get a few pictures, but they invited me to play with them. I became a source of entertainment for them as they watched me try to swing a cricket bat properly. One kid gave me one of their two bats and told me where to stand, while another kid pitched the ball to me (In Cricket jargon he would be called a "baller"). I swung the bat like a baseball bat even though I started with the bat at my feet like I was told. I was simply reacting to the ball like I was taught when I played American baseball as a kid.

Whack.

A long fly ball to center field. I actually hit the small cricket ball even though I swung the bat wrong.

When I tried to swing the bat right, I could hit the ball. Later that night John Kleinig, our Australian friend, explained to us the ins and outs of cricket. After hearing that cricket games can last days, I decided I'd stick with American baseball.

Tuesday, January 16

2007-01-26T06:55:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, the symposium continued with two persons speaking, Dr. John Kleinig from Lutheran College in North Adelaide, South Australia and Dr. Nakka Victor Luther Paul from Andhra Christian Theological College in Hyderabad, India. Dr. Paul began the morning with a lecture to the pastors in their native tongue. After a day of listening to a lecture in English with Telegu translation, there was a palatable relief felt within the 400 pastors gathered that one of their own would address them. Dr. Paul is quite a gifted speaker, passionate and insightful. Even though I don't know the language, his body language communicated to me a love for the gospel, the people, and the continuous reform of the church. One of the points Dr. Paul made (I learned through an interpreter) was that the Lutheran church in India has been there for 160 years, and yet despite the length of time there, the impact on the culture of India has been minimal. Only he, an Indian man and pastor himself, could get away with such an indictment on the ongoing ministry of the Lutheran church in India.

Dr. Kleinig then spoke the remainder of the day on the real presence of Christ in the sacraments, with those gathered for worship, and with those who preach. He took seriously Jesus' promise, "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am." He pointed out that as pastors we are "stewards of the mysteries of God." There is a difference between secrets and mysteries. Secrets are things that are unknown that can be known. Mysteries are unknown things that remain unknown. Our role as pastors, and I would include all Christians, is not to try to explain the mysteries of God, but to be able to be comfortable with the unknown.

An interesting thing happens at most gatherings of Christians in Andrha Pradesh, people begin to sing. Generally, a song leader, usually a pastor, will stand up and begin singing praise songs to which the congregation usually join in singing. It is quite amazing to me simply because of it's uniqueness compared to my experience in America. In America, at every gathering I've ever been, if there is waiting time, there is music played, but it is by CD through speakers or by an organ or piano, but no one dares join in to sing.

Tuesday evening I was invited to speak at a large Lutheran revival meeting held at the Gunta grounds, a large open area in Guntur dedicated to large rallies such as this one. Tuesday night was the second of five nights for this rally. Across Guntur were billboards and banners flying inviting people to attend. The organizers expected nearly 10,000 people to attend each night. It was organized by the AELC (Andrha Evangelical Lutheran Church). On Monday night, Pastor Michael Albrecht of St. James Lutheran in St. Paul, MN spoke.

Around 7pm Tuesday evening I was picked up at the hotel by a small group of BFLC pastors, my escort to the event. When we arrived, the choir was already singing and I was greeted by the president of the AELC and invited to sit at the foot of the stage until I was introduced. I was a bit late getting there, but so were the main speakers for the event, well known brother and sister evangelists and musicians. They showed up probably 15 minutes after I arrived. We were introduced and we all sat on the stage. The festivities officially began. The choirs singing when I arrived were only the warm-up to pass time (remember what I wrote above). Once the "show" began, the choirs sang for over an hour. As I sat on the stage, I looked out and there were indeed probably 10,000 people gathered there that night. It was a surreal moment for me. I thought to myself, "Where am I? How did I get here? I'm the only American here on a stage in Guntur invited to address these people and share with them the love of God in Christ. Why me? Who me?" In my mind's eye I shook my head and rubbed my eyes wondering if what I was experiencing was for real. I was humbled by the honor of being there.

Like I said, the choirs sang for quite some time. I looked at my watch and it said 9:15. I remembered Mike Albrecht telling me that he was finished speaking by 8:30pm. I was convinced in that moment that I wasn't going to be able to speak. We were running out of time. After all the evangelists hadn't even spoken yet. Mentally I stopped preparing my talk and sunk into my chair. At that moment, the president of the AELC approached me on stage while the choir was singing. He leaned over to talk to me in my left ear as I sat there.

"What's your name?" he asked.
I told him even though just an hour ago he introduced me and greeted me when I arrived.
"Where are you from? Australia or America?"
America.
"Ok. Only greetings from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Ten minutes."

Nice.

A minute or two later, his assistant came to me and said, "Only greetings. Five minutes."

They invited me to the podium and I greeted the people from the ELCA and told them that one thing always to remember is that they are deeply loved by God in Christ. Christ comes to us and whispers into our hearts and lives, "You are my beloved. I love you." Short and sweet per their request. Five minutes, maybe.

The evangelists got up and began their sermon with passion and energy. Turns out, they are Pentecostals.

As I sat there listening, Peter Paul one of my escorts got up on stage and made his way inconspicuously behind the chairs to where I was sitting. He poked his head around my chair and said, "Pastor, are you ready to go?" Yes...thank you. We'd just leave now. He told me to just go ahead and walk across the stage and off, right behind the main speakers while they were speaking and in front of the AELC president. Never would be done in the U.S. but in India, one can get away with such a thing.

That night and the next day, people asked how it went for me at the event. I told them about my experience and to the person, they were upset about the decision to cut my portion of the program. After all, the AELC invited us to speak...but it turns out, we were only there to be an international presence, the token American, to symbolize unity with and approval for the event itself. It would have been nice to know that ahead of time. Needless to say, John Kleinig didn't attend the following night.

Thanks for reading.

BFLC Pastor's Symposium--Monday, January 15

2007-01-24T12:27:00.000-05:00

Today we began the Lutheran pastor's symposium in Guntur hosted by the Bible Faith Lutheran Church (BFLC). The BFLC is an association of 42 Lutheran churches located in villages across Andrha Pradesh, employing around 35 pastors to serve these congregations. The BFLC also has an orphanage, the Moriah Home which provides housing for nearly 60 children ages 5-16, a seminary to train pastors, and a private Christian school for children.

Paul and David Dasari, co-directors of the BFLC along with Pastor Shalem Raju wanted to reach out to the various Lutheran bodies across Andrha Pradesh (A.P.) to stand together in mission for Christ and colleagues in ministry. Right now there are five or six different Lutheran bodies represented in A.P.: Andrha Evanglical Lutheran Church, Bible Faith Lutheran Church, Confessional Lutheran Church of India, Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church of India, etc. Monday would turn out to be an historic event in the history of the Lutheran movement in India. No where in the 160 year history that Lutherans have been represented in India has such an event, bringing together the various groups together ever happened. The response to the call to register for the event was tremendous with over 400 pastors indicating their commitment to attend.

At 9:30a.m. when the symposium was supposed to begin, there were only less than a hundred pastors attending. Throughout the day and into Tuesday, pastors arrived and the numbers swelled to over 400.

Over the past years, the integrity of the Lutheran church has been compromised, sometimes by the character of it's pastors, but also in it's understanding of the distinctiveness of Lutheran theology. Much of the important theological documents that are foundational to Lutheran theology have never been translated into Telegu, the local language of A.P., requiring the pastors to have the ability to read either English or German. So, for those who attended this symposium a copy of Luther's Small Catechism translated into Telegu was given to each pastor to be used within their congregations. The Small Catechism is an important document to help people live out their callings as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The BFLC invited three western scholars to teach each of the days at the symposium: Dr. John Pless from Concordia Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Pastor Michael Albrecht from St. James Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Dr. John Kleinig from a Lutheran seminary (the name escapes me) in Adelaide, Australia. Dr. Pless began our time with a teaching about the Small Catechism and how to utilize it in preaching and teaching (pictured to the right).

Guntur--Sunday, January 14

2007-01-23T06:26:00.000-05:00

Today I spoke at the 9am service at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, North Parish in Guntur. The service actually didn't begin until 9:30am and lasted until 11:30am. It was the second service of the morning, the first beginning at 7am. During the winter, this congregation has two morning services each lasting two hours in length and attended by between 1000 and 2000 people at each service. Rev. David Ravindra Babu serves as the lead pastor. It is a congregation within the Andrha Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC), the largest and oldest Lutheran body within Andrha Pradesh. The AELC's equivalent in America is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). St. Matthew serves around 5000 people as members and during the week the doors remain open to shop owners and passers-by to come into the sanctuary for prayer.

Pastor Babu told me that a number of Hindu persons use the sanctuary for prayer during the week and he has many opportunities because of that to talk with them about Jesus Christ.

The text for the sermon was Mark 1:29-37. The vast majority of the service I didn't understand because of the language barrier. However, the service was bookended by familiar tunes to which I could add my words in English while the rest sung in Telegu. We began with Beautiful Savior and ended the service with the doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow..." The experience of being the only English speaker in a worship service in a foreign language is a special one. There is a palatable sense of unity felt as we sing a common tune together, pray the Lord's Prayer, and celebrate the Lord's Supper as one people. Despite the differences the unity in Christ is felt.

The interior of St. Matthew's sanctuary is large, in the shape of the cross, with people sitting on three sides of the sanctuary. For those who can't find a seat inside, the people sit in the area surrounding the church. There are speakers outside so that those who are outside can still participate in the service.

Following worship and lunch we headed up to an internet hub to check and send emails and to write blog entries. Unfortunately, I was unable to reply and send emails after reading them and the blog entry I wrote was lost. It was 45 minutes of writing, all lost and erased because the server was bad. This internet hub was a place where people could receive information, but couldn't send out information via the web. It was quite frustrating. This is why I am writing this blog post India.

It got me thinking that there are people and churches who mimic the internet hub we visited...only receive all kinds of information and blessing, but are not able or willing to give away and send. Conversely, there are people and churches who are great senders but terrible receivers. This is another in a the number of dialectics that make up our world...the tensions that keep us healthy and balances as individuals and churches:
give_____________________receive
law_____________________gospel
active___________________passive
individual________________community

In the past 24 hours, I've been confronted with a number of people begging for money.

Tomorrow we begin the pastor's symposium bringing together the various Lutheran bodies.

Arrival in India, January 13

2007-01-22T08:04:00.000-05:00

My plane arrived in India Saturday morning, January 13 at 1 am. I met Peter and Daniel, BFLC pastors outside the airport after getting through customs and retrieving my luggage. It was nice to see familiar faces in an unfamiliar place. We then took a taxi to the train station where they had reserved a room for me to rest for a few hours and shower before we got on the 6:40 train for Guntur later that morning.

After breakfast consisting of idly and a Nescafe, we got my luggage and headed for the train platform. (Idly is a small circular shaped rice pancake dipped in sauce.)

When we got to the second class coach, where my seat was supposed to be, we discovered that there were no seats left on the train. My ticket was unconfirmed, meaning I didn't necessarily have a seat on the train until we confirmed it with the ticket conductor on the train. Normally this is not a problem, but that day it was because of the number of Hindu people traveling to see friends and family. Turns out that the weekend of January 12-14 was a Hindu holiday weekend in Andrha Pradesh causing travel difficulties for many. I wasn't the only one on the train with an unconfirmed ticket. There were probably 15-20 people also in the same predicament as me. Peter tried to negotiate with the ticket conductor for a seat, but was told that no seats were available and we had to get off at the next station. "No vacancy" the ticket man said to me as he made his way past me in the aisle.

"No problem," Peter said to me. "We'll pick up a taxi at the next stop and drive to Guntur." Easier said than done.

As I mentioned, there were others in the second class coach who also didn't have seats. We all crowded at one end so that we could get off at the next stop. Packed into an area 3 feet wide and 14 feet long were probably 15-20 people, me included with my luggage. We stood shoulder to shoulder waiting for the next stop. The train slowed for the next stop and Peter standing next to the door tried to open it to get off. It was impossible to do so because the door opens inward. The group would have to arrange itself in such a way to get the door open. Peter got it ajar, but not wide enough to get it open. After the five minute stop, the train pulled away from the station.

As I stood in the group, shoulder to shoulder with the Indian people, I thought of a few things:

I was the tallest person in the group which never happens to me.
Two words never put together in India are "personal space."
There were no signs of frustration within the group. People simply accepted what was and adapted themselves to an uncomfortable situation. In America we'd hear sighs and whispers under the breath expressing frustration if it ever happened here.
I am the only American in this group, I don't know the language, and I'm not unnerved by the situation, probably because I have two Indian friends who know the language who are watching out for me. Isn't this the experience we have with God too, as the Spirit interceeds for us as Paul writes in Romans?

At the next stop, Ranammapet, we got the door open and got off. Taxi, where are you? I expected to see maybe one, possibly two taxis waiting for any passengers in a similar predicament that we were in. When we got to the back of the depot, there were no cars. Nope. All I saw were chickens, a grass hut, an open field, and a couple motorcycles.

The picture to the left is exactly what I saw. The road is probably 3/4 of mile in the distance and we were told that we'd have to walk to the road if we wanted a ride. Peter said he'd catch a ride on the back of a motorcycle to the road and bring back a car for us. After probably 20 minutes, he came back with an autorickshaw. We climbed in, Peter and I sharing the backseat and Daniel sharing the small front seat with the driver and made our way to the next village 8km away to pick up the a taxi there.

Below you'll see the taxi we hired to take us the 150km to Guntur. I really didn't think it was a good sign when the driver popped the hood before we got in. Is this car going to make it? It was a 1990 Ambassador...a British body style from the 1950s still made today and sold in India to many people.

We stopped for lunch in a small town on the way to Guntur at a local restaurant. As many restaurants are in towns in India, this was a small local establishment. On the wall written in Telegu above the door was the phrase, "Time is valuable. Beer is cool." A random comment that made me laugh...a nice moment of grace in the midst of a day of unexpected events. The food was also fantastic...very, very hot and spicy, the absolute hottest food I've ever had in my life. My mouth was on fire. It was fantastic.

The drive to Guntur for this taxi driver I was told made his day. He would be well compensated for his time! He was an interesting guy, very earthy. I sat behind him as we drove. We both had our windows down for fresh air. Periodically, however, he'd spit out the window as he drove and each time I cringed expecting the spit to come back into the car through my window...a boomerang spit. Fortunately, I was kept dry.

We finally arrived at the Moriah home at 3pm, three and a half hours later than expected. I was tired and ready for some rest and I was happy to be at my final destination.

Amsterdam

2007-01-12T00:18:00.000-05:00

While America sleeps, the day in Amsterdam begins. It's 6:15 here in Amsterdam and just after midnight in Ohio. After a flight from Detroit and then Newark, I'm here waiting on my next flight to take me to India; only six hours from now. No...I haven't slept. Not a wink. Why do we say that? Sleeping a wink? If we winked while we slept, we'd never get any sleep. I digress...maybe it's the fatigue. Hopefully sleep will come while on the flight to India.

While in Detroit I had a surreal experience while waiting for my plane. Surreal might be strong...but it was an interesting experience none the less. As I'm waiting, I started browsing the stores near the gate to kill time. I made my way into Brooks Brothers...an historic clothier and fine men's clothing. (As a matter of fact, did you know that Lincoln used to buy clothing from Brooks Brothers? Hmmm. I'm reading a book about Lincoln. I'm really not a fashion guru. Really). I looked around the store and noticed how very similar Brooks Brothers looked to J.Riggings, a men's store chain, now defunct and bankrupt, that I used to work in as an assistant manager. Hmmm...I thought. Looks like J. Riggings copied off Brooks Brothers, offering cheaper men's clothing to the public. It was the exact same layout and pretty much the same type of clothing. It made me realize that imposters don't ever make it. Originality and quality matters and has lasting power. J.Riggings failed for a lot of reasons, but I believe one of the reasons was that it copied off someone else instead of being original. Interesting. It's like what I heard once, "Be who you is. Because if you ain't who you is, you is who you ain't"

Faith can't be borrowed either. God wants an original relationship with us, not a copy from our friends or family.

More when I get to India. Thanks for reading.

Foundations

2006-12-19T09:54:00.000-05:00

"Families are the foundation of the church." That's what I heard Dr. James Dobson say this morning on the radio in a commercial for Focus on the Family. With all do respect, I beg to differ. Families, while important for society and the church, are absolutely NOT the foundation of the church. If families are the foundation, why are churches like Mosaic in Los Angeles (majority single persons and internationals) and other churches with young adult ministries thriving? Dr. Dobson's assertion not only isn't realistic, it isn't Biblical. If families were the foundation, then we'd hear Christ himself say so. If families were the foundation, then we'd hear the apostles in the book of Acts preach "family values" to their culture. We don't find either instance. Jesus and the apostles support the family, indeed, but do not consider families the foundation.

Christ alone, Word alone, Faith Alone...

The foundation of the church is Jesus Christ. We don't have access to God because we're part of a stable family or in a church that supports family values. We're part of God's community because of Jesus Christ, whose story is revealed to us through the Word from Genesis 1 to Revelation 21, and who we proclaim by faith to be our Messiah. Christ transcends culture, marital status, age, families, educational level, economic level, color of skin, political bias, interests, passions, talents, etc, etc, etc...to intersect our lives with God's amazing grace. The foundation is Jesus, not the family. It's through Jesus Christ that we are transformed to transform our families. The family is an important piece of the church and our lives...we cannot exist without family and community. God puts us in community. But we can only function well within families and change culture through the power of Christ in and through us.

Thanks for reading.

Improv life

2006-11-07T14:31:00.000-05:00

Check this out...

To struggle used to be
To grab with both hands
and shake
and twist
and turn
and push
and shove and not give in
But wrest an answer from it all
As Jacob did a blessing.

But there is another way
To struggle with an issue, a question--
Simply to jump
off
into the abyss
and find ourselves
floating
falling
tumbling
being led
slowly and gently
but surely
to the answers God has for us--
to watch the answers unfold
before our eyes and still
to be part of the unfolding.
But, oh! The trust
Necessary for this new way!
Not to be always reaching out
For the old hand-holds.
--"A New Way of Struggling" by Susan W.N. Ruach

It seems to me Ruach's writing mimics the words of wisdom recorded long ago in the New Testament letter from James, "Cast all your anxiety to God because he cares for you." Or as some friends in recovery say, "Let go and let God." We find peace and serentity, the unfolding of an answer, when we stop wrestling with God and simply turn our lives and our problem over to the power greater than ourselves...God.

Thanks for reading.

Unhelpful

2006-11-02T14:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I received the most unhelpful fortune from a fortune cookie ever.

One of the small joys of life for me is reading the fortune in my fortune cookie. It's one of those things that people read out loud to one another if eating Chinese in a group. "What's your fortune say? My says..." People either chuckle, stroke an imaginary beard to signify that the saying is wise, or shrug their shoulders and say, "whatever." There is always the guy who adds, "...in bed" as a tag line to every fortune.

But yesterday...yesterday I received the worst one fortune ever. I felt offended, pushed aside by the universe when I received it because it was so out of my realm of life experience. I kept it just to share it with you. Here's what it said, "Your lucky SAT answers are: a,c,d,a,b,b,c" No kidding. That's what the slip says. SAT? I'm not in high school and probably the vast majority of people eating these cardboard tasting cookies are not in high school. You can't even add "in bed" at the end of it and make it sound funny. It wouldn't make sense. The only equivalent fortune to this that would be so irrelevant would be if it read, "You'll be pregnant soon."

Don't put hope in fortunes. I know. I know. I don't. They are random but a note to all fortune writers for the fortune cookie industry...I can work with "You will find success soon" because I can adapt it to fit my situation...but SAT answers?

C'est la vie.

God, thanks for being much more dependable and relevant than fortunes from a cookie.

Thanks for reading

missed out

2006-10-30T14:55:00.000-05:00

Today I walked up to Jimmy John's subs to grab a sandwhich for lunch. What a beautiful late fall day in central Ohio! On the way back, the story of Jesus meeting the unnamed woman at the well came to mind (John 4). The disciples that day long ago left Jesus to walk into town to get lunch, while Jesus stayed at the well. Along came this woman alone, in the heat of the day, to draw water from the well. During the conversation that ensued, Jesus was able to show the woman his identity as Messiah and reminded her that she was deeply loved by God unconditionally. The encounter transformed the woman. But the disciples missed out on a great God moment because they were hungry. They had to hear, after the fact, what happened at the well.

As I walked I wondered, "Do my cravings or drives in life (ambitions, hungers, desires) that I choose to respond to take me away from God moments? I don't think I'll ever know. When have my desires, ambitions, and/or hungers taken me away from my relationship with Jesus, if only momentary? The disciples were going to come back to Jesus once their hunger was satisfied...but responding to their hunger took them away from Jesus. Why didn't at least one of the eleven stay with Jesus? If Jesus is that important of a guy, wouldn't one of them want to stay close to their rabbi? Why would they leave him alone in the heat of the day? Couldn't they have persuaded Jesus, "Come on Jesus. Just come with us. Come on." And yet, why didn't Jesus persuade them to stay? Things happen when Jesus is around. Why did they leave his side?

What about me? What about you? How much do we miss because we take Jesus for granted or get distracted by the stuff of life? Isn't it interesting that Jesus allows the disciples complete freedom to move away from him. God allows us freedom to come and go as we please. He doesn't demand our attention at all times nor reprimand us for walking away. Not at all. God displays infinite patience with us. Why? Because for Jesus, it's a matter of the heart. He knows we get distracted and come and go. The question still remains however,
"Do we want to be around Jesus or is there something else pulling at our hearts?"

Thanks for reading.

The path

2006-10-24T10:45:00.000-05:00

"You search out my path..." Psalm 139:3

This morning I got stuck on this verse and ended up contemplating the meaning of it for our lives. What is the implication of this verse of scripture? God searches out our path. For me, as I consider it, it seems to me that I don't have to try too hard to "make something happen" for my life...I don't have to try hard to accomplish stuff in life...I need to relax and trust God. That's a novel concept. Think about it...it's like God is the trailblazer in front of us, clearing the clutter from the path set before us. We follow. God leads. God does the difficult work. We move forward. And yet, maybe even moving forward is difficult work for us, as we try to determine if this IS the right path. We wonder. We shuffle our feet. We sit down. We look around. We move forward. We stop again. "Am I going the right way?" we ask ourselves scratching our heads. Meanwhile God, searching out our path, says, "Psst...walk this way."

Let the beauty of this verse sink into your being today. Just soak your mind into the truth of it. Paul had a similar idea, "For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life" (Ephesians 2:10).

Thanks for reading.

Flogging

2006-10-17T13:23:00.000-05:00

This morning I had one of those moments when I realized that one can't passively read the Bible, like reading the newspaper. I read Matthew 10:16-23. It started out ok with Jesus speaking, "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpants and..."

"'Innocent as doves Jesus. Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. I know Jesus. I've heard these words lots of times. Tell me something different..." I say.

Jesus continues, "Beware of them for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be...

"'dragged before govenors and kings...I know, I know Jesus. Because of our identification with you people won't like us. They will flog us in the synagogues and be dragged... WAIT! WHAT?! What did you just say Jesus? Flogged where? In the synagogues? What the...?! I mean of all the places for flogging, as if there is a choice place to flog someone, in the synangogue? Flogged in a place of worship, community, tradition, learning, etc?"

Yep, Jesus said flogged in synagogues. Why? Why would the leaders choose to do violence to the people of Jesus' Way inside a place where God's own people gather? What would motivate them to deliver punishment in that space?

It made me ask the question, do we as people of the church today flog people? OK, not like actual flogging with whatever is used to flog people. I am happy to say, I've never had that experience. But, do we ever flog people with our words or our behavior? Do we ignore people who stray from the perceived "way" of the particular church? Do we verbally call them "rebellious troublemakers trying to change the way we do things around here"? I wonder if the verbal flogging begins when people perceive that they are losing power and influence within the congregation itself. Maybe flogging begins when people cling more to the traditions and symbols of the church instead of Christ and faith. After all, people were upset with Jesus because their perception of him was that he was taking away their lifestyle, their traditions, their customs...what they held important. In actuality, Jesus was able to show that people, even God's own people, place more emphasis on the status quo, on keeping things the same, on religious practice, over and above their relationship with Christ. What Christ accomplished with those who followed him then and those who follow now, was putting tradition, symbols, and religion in their rightful place, as means to an end, not an end in themselves.

What got Luther in so much hot water, to the point that he had a bounty on his head by the church of his day? He freed ministry to be that of the people, encouraged people to read the Bible for themselves, encouraged every person to receive both the bread and wine, and said that the church is based only on the Word alone, not the traditions. Oooohhhh. Dangerous. It was dangerous for some leaders of the church in his day because it meant a redistribution of power and authority. Some people just couldn't handle it.

Let's not make our congregations, the new synagogues, places of flogging. Let's let Christ have his way in our lives so that we love people as they are, not as they should be.

Thanks for reading.

Faithfulness

2006-10-02T14:21:00.000-05:00

An interesting insight from William Law,

"The person who dares not say an ill-natured word or do an unreasonable thing because he or she considers God as everywhere present performs a better devotion than the person who dares not miss the church. To live in the world as a stranger and a pilgrim, using all its enjoyments as if we used them not, making all our actions as so many steps toward a better life, is offering a better sacrifice to God than any forms of holy and heavenly prayers."

I wish the media covered Christians who lived the way Law describes. They are out there and some are my friends. Unfortunately, the media chooses to cover embarrasing displays of Christianity, like this one...http://www.thatvideosite.com/video/2178 Please excuse the header at the top of the media player screen on the link.

What an embarrassment. May you and I live better, Christ centered, grace-filled lives.

The power of the tongue

2006-09-18T14:07:00.000-05:00

Today, the newspapers and the media in general is all about the Pope's comments about Islam. The Pope's words reverberated across the world and set people on edge....to the point of violence against Christians by some Muslims in the Middle East. Ironically, the church where I serve, read portions of James 3 yesterday in worship, "...no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison" (v6). While I've not read the Pope's entire speech in order to put the comments in proper context, I can see how words chosen could incite a reaction. The Muslim leaders in the world and other Christians are calling for the Pope's apology. Agreed.

But what about calling for the apology of those who bombed two churches in the West Bank following the papal comments? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14866559/site/newsweek/page/2/

What about an apolgy from the people in India who denouced the Pope by burning his effigy on the streets? Are their reactions justified? Aren't as many apologies necessary from those people as from the Pope himself?

I was THAT guy

2006-09-11T12:52:00.000-05:00

Last week as I was driving to see my grandmother who lives in Indiana, I passed through the area where for one season in 1992 I was the PA announcer for a high school at their football games. I loved it. The team was terrible, but it was fun each Friday night to announce the game...to be the voice over the speaker whose face no one would see, but whose voice they depended on to see if their kid or friend made the tackle or gained four or five yards on a carry.

But one Friday night, I remembered, that I made a memory for the homecoming court of that high school...a funny and frustrating memory. I was glad no one would recognize me afterwards. Here's what happened...

When I arrived at the field that Friday night, I was informed that I would be announcing/introducing the homecoming court before the game. Each couple would walk across the field from the visitor side, down the fifty yard line, and over to the home side. Easy. I got my script with the list of names and practiced. No problem. Time came for introductions of the court. Timing is everything and that night I had no sense of timing. I remember reading the introductions and seeing each couple begin to make their way across the field. I looked down at the script and began to proceed through it to the introduction of the homecoming queen. I felt the poke of my brother standing next to me and I looked up and out the press box window to see adults waving their arms to get my attention to SLOW DOWN. The court wasn't done walking across the field yet. Yikes. It was one of those awkward moments where you realize that you've just made a memorable night for these kids and their parents much more memorable because of your mistake. I can just imagine the stories that were told the next day and maybe at the high school reunion of these kids of the guy in the booth who "almost made us run" through the homecoming preceedings because he rushed through the script.

Yep. That's me. I was THAT guy.

Great sailors

2006-08-30T15:30:00.000-05:00

A good friend of mine said to me last weekend, "Mike, great sailors are not made by staying in the harbor. Great sailors are made by sailing the seas."

True. One of my fears in life is drowning or being caught in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. One of my favorite Magnum P.I. shows from the 80s was when Tom Selleck's character was kayaking on the ocean by himself and he tipped over. He got caught alone in the ocean, boat gone, and was forced to tread water for hours on end until he was rescued. I remember watching with fear and amazement...both never wanting that to be me and rooting this fictional character on to survive the ordeal. When I think about my ancestors who ventured in the 19th century away from their safe lives in England to come to America, I am amazed. They spent weeks on the high seas sailing across the Atlantic for weeks. It was a perilous and exciting journey. A new life awaited them, but they had to get across the sea...sickness, storms, and the doldrums were all were present realities to make their crossing difficult. I just can't imagine being on the seas, for weeks on end, with no land in sight. Water, water everywhere...and what a thrill it would have been to see land on the horizon.

Is this true for me, for us in our lives? Don't we shove off in life from our old ways, our old ideas, our old life...setting sail for a new life? That we must experience the difficult transition too between old and new? But it is precisely that transition that makes the new life taste even sweeter?

Thanks for reading

Answered prayer

2006-08-23T07:14:00.000-05:00

From Psalm 18...
"In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked because he was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth..."
--verses 6-8

Now that's answer to prayer! One prayer of distress causes the earth to shake and the rousing of God's anger. Honestly, over the course of my life praying I have never expected God to react in anger. Pity? Yes. Compassion? Certainly. Power? Most definately. But anger that mimics that of a dragon (smoke from nostrils and fire from the mouth)? No. Never. I don't know if I could ever pray in such a way to hope God would respond in this way...not in anger toward me but in anger toward others. Maybe it's because I'm afraid of the power of God. Then again, maybe I have a limited view of God too and don't allow God to be God.

A good friend of mine showed me her family crest from Scotland. Two words circled the flying eagle..."Dread God." Can we dread God in a healthy way? Is it possible to have a healthy fear of God? How does a healthy fear translate into prayer? If you, the reader, has thoughts, please share them.

But here's the deal for me. Upon further reflection on the verses from Psalm 18, what I love about them is the reassurance that God wants to defend his people. He cares to hear from us. He wants to hear the despair, the fears, frustrations, and hurts we experience in life, and in his compassion and power, God wants to do something. I'm reminded of Paul's words to the Roman church, "If God is for us, who is against us?" God is for us. He wants the best for us. He is our defender, our protector, our deliverer, our redeemer...the lover of our souls.

There is a place for nice, logical, peaceful prayers...but there is also a time when we cry out to God sometimes at the top of our lungs at the difficulties we face...and we hope and trust that the God for us, will respond...sometimes in powerful and dramatic ways as seen in Psalm 18. Literally? Maybe not. Powerfully? Definately.

Thanks for reading

Prayer for vision

2006-08-18T06:20:00.000-05:00

My God thank you for the physical sight to see both light and darkness around me. Thank you too for insight that comes with the vision to tell the difference. I know that my perception of reality, my vision, determines my ability to respond to life, and that the greater my vision, he more fully alive and fully human I can be.

Still I confess that sometimes the smallness of my vision limits my perception of myself, my neighbors, and the world, so that I treat others as less than human and not fully alive--personally, politically, economically, and socially...

I need the vision that Jesus gives, that sees no difference between sacred and secular, sexual identity and personhood, ethnic group and worth, economic position and dignity, education and value.

I need the vision to ask the hard questions and to change my attitude and structures of society where I can. Because of the sensitivity of sight you give, enable me to stand in awe and wonder at life and its possibilities. Help me kneel in humility to worship you and not myself. Lord, hear me as I say, "Let my eyes be opened." Amen
--From Visions of a World Hungry by Thomas G. Pettepiece

slow to anger

2006-08-16T07:04:00.000-05:00

Been on vacation and haven't had the opportunity to make an entry in my blog.

This morning I read Psalm 145 and got stuck on verse eight, "The Lord...is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." Hmmm...I thought. The words reverberated deep inside me. "Do you believe this Mike?" the Lord seemed to ask. "Yes and no," was my reply. I want to believe that the Lord is SLOW to anger and ABOUNDING in steadfast love. I want to believe that the words written are not a doctrinal statement made by a professional theologian of long ago, but a statement of experience with the living God. The writer of the psalm experienced God's love and slow anger it seems. It's as if I was meeting someone for the first time and the other person introducing me to this new friend would say, "This is Joe, he is a great guy...slow to anger and loving."

I want to believe that God's anger is slow and love abundant, but deep down, honestly, I have a hard time rooting it in my heart. I've experienced God's grace, divine patience with me, and guidance. Yep. I believe God is more gracious to me and to all of us than we can ever ask or deserve. He loves us, "for who we are, not as we should be because we'll never be as we should be," but there is a nagging reality that keeps me from embracing Psalm 145:8; my experience with people in this life.

There have been important people in my life and others I have met that have been the verse in the psalm. They are the antiPsalm 145:8. My experience with some people that they are "Quick to anger and lacking in steadfast love." It's troubling to be around people like this. Reality is that before we root ourselves in the Scriptures, our conception of God is formed lots of times by the people around us in a good or bad way. Growing up, I experienced quick anger and little love. It imprinted me and became, for a long time, the lense through which I viewed God. While those lenses don't fit for me any longer, I realize this morning that they are still a lense I choose to look at God through. I lay my experience, however wrong it was, over the truth of the Scripture. I can choose today who to believe...the ancient writer of the psalm whose experience with God was slow anger and abundant love, or my experience as a child and adult with imperfect human beings who did not mimic God's heart and character to me. They were conterfeit gods. I think I will choose the psalm writer today.

One of the ancient disciplines of the Christian church is to allow God to direct us to a word or phrase from scripture and let it spin over and over in our hearts and minds. I compare it to an animal chewing on its cud all day. Today, I will chew on Psalm 145:8, "The Lord is...slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." allowing the truth of the statement permeate my being.

Thanks for reading.

Thirsty

2006-07-31T08:32:00.000-05:00

I was hoping to add to my blog while I was out in South Dakota serving the Lakota people. But, there was no computer access. So the next few blog entries will be about the trip, but after the fact.

Thirst was a common theme last week for us.

Thirsty ground
As we've read in the paper lately, South Dakota and the middle part of America is experiencing drought. It was hot and dry last week. The ground is thirsty, very thirsty for water. Lots of places, as the wind blows, dust kicks up and creates a small dust cloud.

Thirsty wood
We painted Susan's trailer for her for two days. What we found was very thirsty wood for the paint, especially on the back side of her trailer. The wood siding was bare having never been painted.

Thirsty people
While we definately were made thirsty by the heat we experienced daily, metaphorically we were thirsty to learn about the Lakota people and culture. Atta and Will both shared with us about life on the reservation and the values their culture holds. Everyone, including the children, listened with apt attention to them share their wisdom and insight about life and survival. Twice I heard the comment made, "I've heard more wisdom in the last two days than I have for the past few years." God made our hearts ready to receive wisdom.

Thirsty Mike
On Friday, we pulled weeds in a garden in the 100 degree heat, sun beating down on our heads; no shade in sight. At one point, David, working near me and Kathy, said to us, I'm going to get something to drink. "Good idea," I thought to myself. When he returned, he did so carrying two cups of cold water, one for Kathy and one for me. "Here. Cold water." he said handing me the cup.

"Thanks," I said standing up straight and wiping the sweat from my forehead.

That evening,I remembered the verse from Matthew, "I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink" an encouragement from Jesus to his disciples to serve others practically. As a middle class American Christian, I usually place myself in the role of water giver. I don't have needs...I meet needs. But, Friday morning, I was the recipient of the water. I was in need and David was the one who gave.

It's difficult at times for me to be in need or to allow others to see me in need. It's an ego thing I think. But, clearly on Friday, David, in the same boat as Kathy and me, saw the need and acted in a small and yet profoundly kind way: giving me a cup of cold water. To be in need is not bad in itself. I think all of us are afraid to be in need, to be "thirsty" because we're afraid of suffering, and most of all afraid that we will suffer alone, that no one will notice and no one will care. After all, suffering is not as bad as suffering alone. What I learned in retrospect is that God does provide for us and we can live life trusting others to serve us as we serve others.

Thanks for reading

Everything

2006-07-13T10:30:00.000-05:00

This week I've been living with Psalm 24, reading it daily as part of my devotional routine. Since Monday I can't get passed verse one, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." This one verse has shaped my prayers for my friends, family, the world, and myself. If everything and everyone belongs to God, everything includes the people involved in the violence and bloodshed in Israel and Lebanon today. The people in Iraq. My enemies. My call as a pastor. My son. My interests. I need to live with such a radical disposition that everything and everyone belongs to God and I as one of God's people are a steward of what's God owns. Personally, without the divine ownership perspective, I will tend to try and control, or at least worry about, outcomes whether it be in my work, within my family, or when I read about, like today, increasing violence in the middle east. I can surrender to God trusting that if everything and everyone belongs to God, then God wants the best for everything and everyone. We mess things up, not God. And yet, God intervenes to help right our wrongs, to mop up our messes, to stop unnecessary violence against innocents. My hope today is that the God who oversees also intervenes. "Your kingdom come Lord."

Dancing in the rain

2006-07-05T15:43:00.000-05:00

Having a three year old child has to be the best thing ever.

Last night, my wife and I took Ethan to see the fireworks. As is normally the case, to get a good seat to see fireworks you have to get “there” a couple hours before the event. Last night was no exception. As we sat waiting for the big moment, it began to rain. We got our umbrellas out and Ethan sat with me undermine for a while. However, at one point he gets up runs out into the rain and begins turning round in circles on the sidewalk. His hands and arms were flailing beside hom and his head pulled back, while he kind of ran in place in circles.

“What are you doing Ethan?” I asked.

“I’m dancing in the rain.”

What having a child has done for me is to show me the beauty of enjoying life. As an adult, I wouldn’t start dancing in the rain for anything. I’m too old for that type of behavior. I may curse the rain, complain that I have to sit underneath an umbrella…but I wouldn’t choose to embrace the rain and enjoy its presence. What a fool I am. Which is better? Embrace the momentary gifts given by God or complain about how inconvenient it is to have to sit underneath an umbrellla? The former is better. I don’t need to be childlish to enjoy life, but I can be child-like and enjoy the things that are brought my way…including rain.

Thanks for reading.

dancing in the rain

2006-07-05T15:30:00.000-05:00

Having a three year old child has to be the best thing ever.

Last night, my wife and I took Ethan to see the fireworks. As is normally the case, to get a good seat to see fireworks you have to get "there" a couple hours before the event. Last night was no exception. As we sat waiting for the big moment, it began to rain. We got our umbrellas out and Ethan sat with me undermine for a while. However, at one point he gets up runs out into the rain and begins turning round in circles on the sidewalk. His hands and arms were flailing beside hom and his head pulled back, while he kind of ran in place in circles.

"What are you doing Ethan?" I asked.

"I'm dancing in the rain."

What having a child has done for me is to show me the beauty of enjoying life. As an adult, I wouldn't start dancing in the rain for anything. I'm too old for that type of behavior. I may curse the rain, complain that I have to sit underneath an umbrella...but I wouldn't choose to embrace the rain and enjoy its presence. What a fool I am. Which is better? Embrace the momentary gifts given by God or complain about how inconvenient it is to have to sit underneath an umbrellla? The former is better. I don't need to be childlish to enjoy life, but I can be child-like and enjoy the things that are brought my way...including rain.

Thanks for reading.

Stuck

2006-06-30T07:49:00.000-05:00

Do something. Anything.

I was sitting here just five minutes stuck in my seat. It's 8:40 in the morning, I just don't know how to continue the day. I already started my day with a morning breakfast meeting at 7am and now as I sat in my office, I felt stuck. I didn't feel like doing anything. I had already wrote my "to do" list with priorities and I'd gone through my email, but I didn't feel like either jumping into the list or responding to the emails. Until I got up and walked out to my car. Walking to my car to get a Mat Kearney CD propelled me out of my stuckness to write this blog.

What have I learned from this brief moment. Movement creates thoughts and energy. The only thing keeping me stuck was me. I wasn't tied down by ropes nor had I sat on glue. It was only my confusion about where to start. It's when got up to move did my desires follow.

Dig deep

2006-06-23T07:28:00.000-05:00

When playing organized sports my coaches would yell to us, "Dig deep!" when we had hit the fatigue wall. I even used them when I coached briefly. The thought is that somewhere deep inside us is a resevoir of energy, perseverance, and endurance that when the going gets rough, it is there for us to draw "stuff" from to keep us moving forward.

Rich Mullins, the late musician, said that some of the most courageous people in the world are those who are willing to dig deep within themselves and draw out their creativity. The courageous, for Mullins, are people who not only dig deep, but also share it with the world.

Then last night I read the following,
"During a dry season in the New Hebrides, John Paton the missionary awakened the derision of the natives by digging for water. They said water always came down from heaven, not up through the earth. But Paton revealed a larger truth than they had seen before by discovering to them that heaven could give them water through their own land. So men insist on waiting for God to send them blessing in some supernormal way, when all the while he is givng them abundant supply if they would learn to retreat into the fertile places of their own spirits where, as Jesus said, the wells of living waters seek to rise. We need to learn Eckhart's lesson, 'God is nearer to me than I am to myself; he is just as near to wood and stone, but they do not know it.'"
--Henry Emerson Fosdick

Dig.

Thanks for reading.

Fifth grade

2006-06-20T17:29:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago while walking down the sidewalk, I overhear a guy talking to his friend. As they approach me walking the opposite way down the walk than me, the guy says to his friend, "Fifth grade was the best year of my life!"

What? Fifth grade was the best year of your life? I really wanted to hear more but that is all I caught as they walked past me. I hoped there was a lot more to the guy's story. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and I thought how sad it would be if in reality 25 wasn't his best year, 11 was. Granted, I didn't hear the rest of the story, but it did get me thinking, how many of us believe our best years are behind us. What about tomorrow? What about today?

If we believe in God; that life with God is a constant movement into the future; that Jesus came to give those who follow him life and not a mundance religious life, but an exciting life lived by faith, then our best days are not behind us. Our best days are now and tomorrow.

Do we live in the past? Do we live looking backward thinking the mess or pain we experience today is our "lot in life." Woe is me. But what if the pain we feel today is momentary, preparation for greater things to come. As a friend of mine says, "Short term pain for long term gain." If we see our struggles as a means to a greater end, then we live by hope and trust in a God who is bigger than today and who sees tomorrow. If we live thinking that the current pain or unfortunate circumstances are an end in themselves, then we are most to be pitied. Why go on?

Ahhh...but Jesus comes to renew, refresh and move us into the future. God has dreams/plans for our lives, plans to give us hope and a future (as it says in Jeremiah). Go with God. Into the future...and beyond.

Keep your chin up.

The Beauty of Unity

2006-06-16T12:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my son Ethan met a new friend, Ben. We pulled into the driveway of my friend's house and Jenn (my friend) says to Ethan, "Hey Ethan. I hear that you like Thomas the Tank engine."

"Yes." Ethan replies

"You know what? My son Ben likes Thomas too." she says.

Ethan tears off running toward the backyard yelling, "Ben! Ben!" He's yelling for a kid he doesn't even know and never met. Ben comes running over to Ethan. Ben says, "What?" to a kid he's never met. In a breathless voice Ethan says, "I like Thomas and you like Thomas too!" Unity. Two kids, who were strangers were unified by a train, Thomas.

On Wednesday last week, Ethan and I went to Steak and Shake for ice cream. We walk into the restaurant and Ethan screams," "Thomas! There's Thomas." And I'm all, "Where?"

"Right there" Ethan says running toward a boy and pointing. Ethan reaches the boy, a year or two older than Ethan, and touches the boy's shorts. On the shorts was a large picture of Thomas the Tank Engine.

"They can spot them anywhere," the other dad said to me.

True. We had just walked into the restuarant and Ethan probably only got a glimpse of the kid's shorts, but it was enough to pull him from holding my hand to racing over to the other little boy.

Maybe my son is a bit over the top about Thomas. Ok. I'll give you that. But, these two encounters between Ethan and other kids all because of a train, reminds me of my own unity as a follower of Christ with other fellow followers. You know? I can't say I get terribly excited when I met a fellow Christian whom I had never met previously. I wonder if it was different for the early church, as the new movement of Jesus grew as a minority movement within the larger Jewish/Roman world. There would be joy and happiness and immediate bonding all because of one man, Jesus. My son's reaction to Thomas causes me to wonder if I a Christian walking in America today, take my unity with others for granted.

But then again, my son is excited about Thomas because he plays with Thomas and the other engines daily. He takes them places. He's never without one or another of the trains. What about my relationship with Jesus? Am I, are we, not excited about the unity we share in Christ because we've allowed the relationship with the living Christ to be pushed aside?

Thanks for reading

No comprende

2006-06-07T09:34:00.000-05:00

My son turns three today. Yesterday I said to my wife, “Aren’t you glad Ethan’s birthday wasn’t today. His birthday would always be, 666.” While I’m not superstitious nor did I go around worrying about what MIGHT happen yesterday because of the date, I wouldn’t want my son to be subject to the number, especially if he would ever become a pastor later on in life. “Wow, our pastor’s birthday is 6/6/06. Makes me wonder…”

Six is one shy of seven. Duh. Hang with me. I realized that my son is doesn’t understand, grasping the faith. He falls short of understanding (because of his age) like six falls short of seven. I sat down to do my devotions yesterday and I started with Psalm 150. I said to Ethan, “Daddy’s going to read the Bible. Do you want to hear it.”

“Yes daddy.”

“Ok. ‘Praise the Lord…” I move through the psalm and Ethan’s face remains blank. I can tell he has no comprehension of the words I was reading. Eventually, I could tell he tuned me out, even only after five verses of the psalms. I wonder, is my son’s response similar to adults in our American culture when we talk about God, faith, Jesus, Bible, etc…using Christianeze to explain ourselves?

Maybe yesterday’s, 6/6/06 day, reminds us more of the vast numbers of spiritual people in the U.S. who have little or no comprehension when it comes to following Christ and life with God. Like my son, like the number six to number seven, they (we) fall short of understanding. And it wasn't as if I condemned Ethan for not understanding, nor did I talk louder or slower so that he would "get it." Nor should we codemn anyone for not understanding the Christian life. Instead, we begin to translate it patiently through our life and our words so that others gain a better and deeper understanding in the faith. People move from a six to a seven.

"This one goes to eleven."

every day the same

2006-06-02T13:48:00.000-05:00

Today while driving I heard a song whose refrain was one line, over and over and over again, "Everyday is exactly the same." Don't know who sings it (Lenny Kravitz?), or what the entire song is about, but the phrase stuck in my head; Everyday is exactly the same. How true is that for people in America? How true is that for people in Ohio where I live? I hope not very common, but I suspect that most people would resonate with the reality of the statement. Everyday IS exactly the same.
Granted, for conventional types or people who like routine, the phrase is gospel. What a life, everyday is exactly the same! Yeah! But for people like me who bore of the routine, I need everyday to be somewhat different. The phrase strikes me as horrible news. It would be hell if everyday of my life were EXACTLY the same as the one before; a sort of a black and white existence. The people I meet, the places I go, the things I do color my world and hopefully I am used by God to color other people's worlds.
Does God, after all, want us to live each day exactly the same? Or does God call us to something more? Does the abundant life Jesus promises us when we follow open up doors and adventures that take us out of the ordinary, the mundane of life into new experiences and adventures that shape our understanding of God, ourselves, and one another? Grace colors our world.
I know, even in the everyday we need the mundance activities. I still have to vacuum the carpets, help my three year old use the toilet, wash the dishes, feed the dog, etc...those activities happen every day. They aren't glamorous or exciting, but they are necessary. The abundant life Christ calls us to doesn't take us away from these every day activities. After all, a true servant of Christ shows his/her faithfulness by being faithful in the mundance, small things in life. As servants we're never too good to do something. After all, Jesus washed his disciples' feet!
So on one level there is sameness in everyday. But the diversity of life, if we're open to engaging the diversity of people in this world, open to new ideas and new experiences, open enough to let ourselves dream and vision a better future for our communities while seeing ourselves as part of fulfilling that dream or vision...that is what makes a everyday different. Hope pulls us out of our limited perspective, turning our eyes heavenward to the God who lives today and who says, "Behold, I make all things new..."
Thanks for reading.

Uninspired

2006-05-15T15:23:00.000-05:00

Ever had one of those days that is simply a day...not good or bad...it just simply is. Nothing earth shaking happens. Nothing inspiring comes along. It's not necessarily a ho-hum, hum-drum day...it simply is a day. The pace is even. The work is productive. The feelings even. Smooth. This has been my day. I don't have a lot to write about at all. God is good. I don't have to experience the hills and valleys of life to conclude that God is good. God is good even in days like today where nothing's shaking. Maybe this is the "peace that passes all understanding."

Thanks for reading

Smile

2006-05-12T07:09:00.000-05:00

A few years ago as my wife and I were walking out of Circuit City, a woman approached us, "Excuse me you dropped your smile" she said pointing down to the ground. Instinctively we looked down too. The three of us looked up at the same time after a moment with smiles on our faces. She had gotten our attention. She went on to try and sell us something...blah, blah, blah...but I liked the way she got our attention.

Long ago a Christian leader wrote to the new community of followers of Jesus, "Let mutual love continue" (Hebrews 13:1). Commenting on loving one another, Mother Teresa wrote in A Gift for God,

Some people came to Calcutta, and before leaving, they begged me, "Tell us something that will help us to live our lives better." And I said, "Smile at each other; smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other--it doesn't matter who it is--and the will help you to grow up in greater love for each other" And then one of them asked me: "Are you married?" and I said: "Yes, and I find it difficult sometimes to smile at Jesus." And it is true, Jesus can be very demanding also, and it is at those times when he is so demanding that to give him a big smile is very beautiful.

Thanks for reading.

3D community

2006-05-08T09:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I spoke in worship about community, in particular, a three dimensional community. On Friday last week Rolling Stone came out with its 1000th issue. The cover was a 3D picture of the rock and roll/Rolling Stone community over the course of 40 years. It was so engaging and interesting that I forked out the $6 and bought the magazine. I haven't regreted it. Inside I've found interesting articles about the history of music and background stories about some of the people who have graced the covers of the magazine. I've even thought that I'd become a subscriber for a year of Rolling Stone.

Why? Why would I consider a subscription? Four reasons...

Engaging cover picture of a community. It is creative.
Engaging content. (See above)
Engages my thinking about culture. While I might disagree with some of the political commentary and viewpoints expressed by the musicians, actors, and writers, it does touch on the common culture that I experience around me and spurs within my thoughts and viewpoints of my own.
Engages my interest. I like music and movies and it's a magazine devoted to the industry.

What about Christ's community. Are we as engaging as a Rolling Stone magazine? Are first impressions by guests good when they enter our communities? Are people as "awed" by our community as I was by the cover of Rolling Stone? Is our content engaging? Are we connect with the culture around us enough so that we can add our voice to the voices speaking about and helping to shape the culture around us? Jesus said, "Be in the world but not of the world." Are we a community that allows people to pursue their passions and interests in a meaningful way as a way of serving the world in Christ's name?

May the Lord continue to shape us to be a community that is engaging, challenging, and graceful in the name of Christ.

Thanks for reading.

Prayer

2006-05-05T14:47:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's because I'm 35, but I find myself at a time in my life where I wonder about the future. I wonder if the path I am currently on, while a great one, is the only path I will take for the rest of my life. I end up with no answers. But I stumbled across a prayer recently that has been helpful.

"O Lord, you know me.
You know when I sit and when I stand.
You have me always present in your mind.
For this, Lord, I thank you.
You know the path for my life and what is best for me.
Lord, reveal to me the path I am to walk.
Bless me and guide me and be Lord to me
so that whichever road I take
I may do all for your glory.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
--from the Beech Grove Benedictine Community

Every hour saints

2006-05-03T07:21:00.000-05:00

This from Carlo Carretto,

"Joy or sadness, war or peace, love or hate, purity or impurity, charity or greed, all are tremendous realities which are the hinges of our interior life. Everyday things, relationships with other people, daily work, love of our family--all these may breed saints.
Jesus of Nazareth taught us to live every hour of the day as saints. Every hour of the day is useful and may lead to divine inspiration, the will of the Father, the prayer of contemplation--holiness. Every hour of the day is holy. What matters is to live it as Jesus taught us.
And for this one does not have to shut oneself in a monestery or fix strange and inhumane regimes for one's life. It is enough to accept the realities of life. Work is one of those realities; motherhood, the rearing of children, family life with all its obligations are others."
--From Letters from the Desert

Immigrant rallies

2006-05-02T08:23:00.000-05:00

Last night I was struck by the pictures and video footage of the immigrant rallies across the U.S. Honestly, I'm still trying to sort the whole thing out. Maybe you are too. But God's words to the people of Israel long ago keep coming back to my mind and heart, "Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt" (Exodus 23:9). One of the main ideas God was trying to get across to the people was to have empathy for the foreigners in their midst. This law mandated empathy. Do we have laws of empathy too? I for one, don't know what it feels like to be an "alien" or an immigrant in this country or another one. My ancestors who came to the U.S. did long ago, and I suspect that you who are reading this blog entry has the same American history as I do. We don't have a fresh collective memory of immigration within our family or friends. So, can we empathize with these immigrants? Or do we appeal to the law of immigration within the U.S. law code? Can we do both? Can we stand beside those who are being pushed aside and who contribute to the U.S. economy while maintaining the law? Like I said, I'm still trying to sort it all out.

Thanks for reading.

Kept from evil?

2006-04-24T10:30:00.000-05:00

This morning in my meeting with God, I read the following verse from Psalm 121, "He will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life." Pausing on that verse, I let it seep into my psyche a bit and let it reverberate in my heart for a few moments. "He will keep you from all evil..." What does it mean? Does it mean that evil will not touch me? Does it mean that bad things won't happen to God's people? I'm not that nieve to think that bad things don't happen to Christians and good people. It's just too simple and unrealistic to think that being "kept" from evil means I have a protective force field around me, around us as we walk through life. Is evil a present reality in this world? Yes. Does it affect my life? Yes. So, what does it mean that God will keep us from all evil?

Then I read from Acts 13. Acts is the historical account of the spread of the Jesus movement throughout the world and the establishment of this new community of Jesus people. Acts 13:49-51, "The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But...they stirred up persecution agains Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." Paul and Barnabas experienced evil in the persecutions they experienced. They weren't kept from bad things happening to them. I think the difference is how they responded to the evil. They "shook the dust off their feet" and they were "filled with joy." Maybe being "kept from all evil" isn't so much kept from experiencing it, but rather it is that evil will not overtake God's people. God will give us the right attitude in spite of the deteriorating circumstances surrounding us. What a way to respond to persecution, to simply get away and moved on. Paul and Barnabas' response to me is a courageous, controlled, and graceful response to the evil the beset them. May I, may we, respond to the evil around us with the Holy Spirit equipping and strengthening us to face it for what it is...and move through and passed it with the assurance of God's love and ultimate protection for us.

Thanks for reading.

2006-04-19T09:43:00.000-05:00

When I played football in high school, Coach Fries made the entire team memorize a poem. We recited it before every game as a group in a large huddle. Since those days long ago, portions of that poem has stuck with me and has been a source of inspiration to me in lots of areas in my life. I pass the poem on to you.

If you think you are beaten, your are
If you think you dare not, you won't,
If you like to win, but don't think you can
It's almost a cinch you won't
If you think you'll lose, you're lost
For out in the world you find,
Success begins with a fellow's will
It's all in a state of mind
For many a game is lost
Ere even a play is run,
And many a coward fails
Ere even his work is begun
Think big and your deeds will grow
Think small and you'll fall behind
Think that you can and you will
It's all a state of mind
If you think you are out-classed, your are
You've got to think high to rise
You've got to be sure of yourself before You can ever win a prize
Life battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the fellow who thinks he can

Mandela

2006-04-15T07:11:00.000-05:00

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Taken from the 1994 Inaugural Speech of Nelson Mandela

The gospel of judas

2006-04-14T14:57:00.000-05:00

America is all a flutter with the discovery and the revealing of the "Gospel of Judas", an historical document revealing the insider Judas into Jesus' life and death. Interesting reading, but historically accurate? I'm not quite sure. Why do people trust a more recent document, newer than the gospels, over the four gospels we have preserved in our bible? It is a question of authority really. What has more authority? An eight page document recently discovered that dates back to near the first century, or four "gospels" who also give an historical record of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection? The gospels are not simply a collection of saying of Jesus. They also include place, people, and events which root Jesus' life in an historical, verifiable time and place. The gospel of Judas may have been pushed aside by our ancient church leaders for good reason...maybe because it wasn't good nor more importantly, accurate. Was there a conspiracy to silence the writer of the gospel of Judas? Oooooo. An American public wants to think so, but maybe it wasn't read because it simply was wrong.

Bon Jovi, for example, comes to mind. A year ago they released a 3 CD set with all of their B sides over the course of their music carrier; all of the music that never made it on to one of their recordings to be sold to the public. While there are some good songs on the CD, I do remember thinking as I listened, "No wonder this didn't make it on to the CD."

Another Gospel of Judas was proposed to me through a man named Pete Greig in his book, The Vow. He writes:
"How would Judas Iscariot have responded to the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Matthew tells us that prior to his suicide, Judas was 'seized with remorse.' He ran to the priests declaring 'I have sinned, I have betrayed innocent blood' hoping there might be still some way to undo the deed. Do we dare describe these words as a confession of sin?...Everything seemed hopeless...For Judas, there was no escaping the awful horror of his own heart. No future. And so, in the darkest despair, he hanged himself.

But what if he had waited a weekend? That's all that would have been needed. I love to imagine Jesus on Easter morning deliberately seeking out the disciple more lost than any other. Perhaps now, at last, he might be found! When Judas first sees Jesus, I imagine him wondering how this tumult of madness could now be conjuring up the rabbi in his tortured mind. Slowly Jesus approaches, but Judas is frozen in disbelief. Closer. Closer. Jesus is unbearably close...And then it happens: Jesus greets Judas. With a kiss, whispering, 'Friend.'..A kiss for a curse.

Yes I believe there was even grace for Judas, if only he could have held on through that one dark and desperate weekend."

Judas story may be our story. We may feel so overcome with guilt and shame today that the only option is to take our own life. Friend, hang on. Hang on another day. Grace is finding you too. "Stumble on a few more hours in blind faith, offering God nothing more than your hopelessness and your sin. We cannot rush the resurrection. But wait and watch, and He will surely come."

Lazarus factor

2006-04-11T11:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday when I read a portion of John, I came across a verse that I haven't ever thought about, "...the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him" (John 12:10-11).

Here's a guy, Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Jesus himself...he's overjoyed by the new life, but some people just can't take it. They can't take it Lazarus is alive. It goes against the status quo. If a person is dead, they are to stay dead! So instead of celebrating with Lazarus, being awed by the miracle, the leaders are ticked. They want to shut Lazarus up by killing him again.

U2 has a line in one of their songs, "Don't let the bast**** drag you down." There are all kinds of people around us who want us to stay normal, don't rock the boat, don't be happy, don't feel joy, don't be yourself...because when we are truly ourselves, when we are truly moving into the future God has in store for us, they have to change too. Instead of changing along with us, they want to change us back to the people we were before "new life" happened. For some it's living into the new life Christ has in store for us in the present moment and in the days ahead. When we embrace the future with Christ, the future God has in mind for us, it will necessarily move us away from some people, things, and/or behaviors. But even when we don't move away from relationships, our new life will change those around us...some will like the change, and others won't. If it happened to Lazarus, it will happen to us.

And yet, what if the one trying to drag us down is ourselves? After all, there may be in our lives a propensity to fear success...to fear the unknown of a new tomorrow.

Either way, we move forward with Christ, trusting in the protection, grace, and strength he provides.

Looking in the rear view mirror

2006-04-05T09:15:00.000-05:00

Ever tried driving down the interstate or a city street looking only in the rear view mirror? Not a good idea. I remember when I was learning to drive my instructor told me to glance periodically in my rear view mirror as well as my side mirrors. I remember thinking, "Man, that's a lot of looking behind and beside me." I just wanted to drive. While there is wisdom in looking to see what's behind us, we can't drive forward very long staring into those mirrors. We'll cause damage as we move forward because we're not paying attention what is in front of us.

I wonder how much I do that in my own life. Do I stare into the "rear view mirror" of my life to the destruction of what is right in front of me and what's down the road in the future ahead of me? At times, I do. Regret, guilt, shouldas, wouldas, and couldas all cause me to look backward too much. It's important to look back periodically and pay attention to the past. Being a history major in college I have to tell you that! But I do believe it. If we forget our history, we're bound to repeat it. But glancing back can also help us move safely into the future too.

Once when I was 16 I gave Lee a ride home from football practice. I remember it being a cool, rainy fall evening in October. We drove down state route 18 listening to music and talking about stuff when all of a sudden, I glanced into my rear view mirror and saw a state highway patrolman behind me, lights flashing. "S***! Cop." We both reach for our seatbelts and click them in as I eased over to the berm.

"My mom's gonna kill me," I kept thinking as the patolman walked towards our car. He made me get out and sit in his car as he worked up the ticket. "Did you two have your seatbelts on?" he asked. "Ummm..." hesitation. "....no." He didn't think so. He had seen our hands grow out of left and right shoulders as we reached for the seatbelts. Strike two. Strike one was I was speeding on wet roads, and on top of that, we weren't wearing seatbelts. Yikes.

So, is it important to look behind? Yes, to a point. Sometimes we learn from what's behind us so that we can move safely into the future.

But, I wonder if I and some of us live too much looking in the rear view? Maybe Paul's words will help move us boldly into the present and future God has planned, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things...let us live up to what we have already attained." Philippians 3:13-16

Let's dance

2006-03-31T20:18:00.000-05:00

"Daddy, let's dance." Ethan calls from the living room to me as I stand kicking my shoes off into the closet. In background Madonna's "Holiday" plays in the background. While I'm not a Madonna guy, some of early stuff is still pretty good. Anyway, I see Ethan dancing by himself on the carpet moving his body in circles, one hand in the air, not quite to the beat of the music. But, he's feeling the music. He recognized that music pulls movement out of us if we let it.

"Daddy, let's dance." he says again.

I oblige. We take hands and dance in the middle of the living room floor to the music. We move our arms. We go in circles. Daddy gets dizzy. Ethan laughs. There is a beauty to simply moving randomly in a space. We weren't on the beat. Our dancing wasn't anything to look at. We definately wouldn't win a dance contest, and believe me, I'd never enter one. But, what I learned tonight was the freedom and the lack of self-conciousness a 3 year old possess (I'm rounding his age up). He is simply him and invites me to have fun with him. Ah, the lessons children teach.

This week I've been praying a simple prayer all week from my devotional book. Part of the prayer reads, "Help us that we may serve you with the cheerfulness and gladness of children, delighting ourselves in you and rejoicing in all that is to the honor of your name..." I think God answered my prayer tonight teaching me that there are times in life to simply dance, to move freely with little regard to the opinions of others; to move freely to the rhythms of life all around us. Can I be awake and listen enough to hear the beats of life? Or am I asleep, bored, or taking life WAY too seriously. After all, life's too serious to take seriously.

And yes, I prayed "us." I included all the people on my prayer list in the "us." People like my family, my close friends, former friends and classmates from HL, people at ASLC, etc...

I hope God answers the prayer in your life as he did in mine.

"May I have this dance?" God

Running after...

2006-03-26T20:46:00.000-05:00

Tonight I realized that there are days that I am not a follower of Jesus, I am one that chases after him because I've stopped and he's kept walking. I'm standing in a worship service tonight singing and praying and I had this image of me running after Christ. All I can see is the back of his head and the back of his robe pretty far ahead of me. When I get to him, all I can do is breathlessly touch his robe. That is enough. He turns to me with a gaze of acceptance. My heart was moved.

In that moment, I realized that sin pulls me away from Jesus. It makes me stop. "Ohhh...something shiny" and I wander away from being close to the One. I realize that with Jesus, I am so much like my almost 3 year old son, easily distracted by stuff. I am so easily distracted causing me to wander.

So, I start and stop. I walk, I stop, and then I run. Don't know what I'd do if I ever lost sight of Jesus. So far so good. I'd feel that panic of being lost. But, would Jesus search for me? Yes, I know so. He said so. Would I search for Jesus? Yes. I hope so...

Hey Jesus, wait up. Sorry. Got a bit sidetracked.

Getting a sucker

2006-03-21T11:09:00.000-05:00

Last night my 2 year and nine month old son, (he's not two or two and a half and yet not three. Why do the months matter when a person is that young? When do we stop counting the months? After all, I'm 35, and I'll tell people that I am 35 all year until I turn 36. In May I won't tell people, "I'm 35 1/2"...for another blog. Now back to this one.) Ethan got his haircut. He sat in my lap and sat pretty much still allowing Sherry to cut his hair. At one point while the chair was turned to the side, he had a chance to see what was behind us normally if we were facing forward towards the mirror. Sherry says, "Are you looking at those pretty girls standing over there?" No response. His eyes were fixed in the general direction of the girls. Eventually he says, "I'm going to get a sucker."

"That's right buddy, you will after you get your haircut." I said.

He said it again, "I'm going to get a sucker." Then we realized that Ethan was looking at the girls, he noticed the basket full of little dum-dum suckers. Ahhh...it's all about the suckers.

Forget the people, he's all about the sweet taste of the sucker.

Is there a lesson here? Do we look past the beauty of people or the people around us for the momentary pleasures of things?

Comedy in truth

2006-03-14T15:44:00.000-05:00

I have this book on my shelf called, "Truth in Comedy," a great book, considered by some to be the bible of improv theater. Del Close's idea is that comedy comes out of reality. He's right. There are funny things happening right underneath our noses. It's just a matter of paying attention to them or stopping to think about our day. After all, how many times have we told another person (spouse, friends, co-worker) about our day and we find ourselves laughing at what happened. If we get out of our own little worlds and out of our heads and deal with the moments of reality around us, we may find ourselves laughing daily at the oddities and complexities of life. Now, I am not saying that we laugh at people. That's just cruel. I never want to laugh at someone...I want to laugh with someone about the reality of the moment.

Life's too serious to take seriously. There is joy and laughter right under our noses.

For example, this morning I helped by son get his cereal. One way I motivate him to eat is to point out that I am eating the same thing he is eating. So I said this morning, "Look Ethan, daddy's eating this cereal and so is Ethan!" Ethan says, "Yeah!" and sticks his spoon into the bowl pulling out a few fake apple jacks (we go with the generic Target brand cereal). Now, Ethan didn't make me burst out in laughter, but his voice and his simple excitement when he realized that he and I were eating the same thing, brought a smile to my face and a chuckle to my throat. What a great way to start the day.

Lifting my soul

2006-03-10T15:07:00.000-05:00

I've been living with Psalm 25 this week, reading it each day once. It's a wonderful discipline that go over and over a text. God opens new doors and insights each time. What seems commonplace becomes interesting and insightful. For example, I stopped the other day on a phrase I have sung and read for most of my adult life as a Christian, "To you O Lord I lift up my soul" (v1). Another translation puts it this way, "In you, Lord my God, I put my trust." Clearer, but I think I like the first one better. Here's why. I get the picture of a man lifting the word "soul" above his head representing what is at the core of his being. His soul. It's as if he's offering to God what and who he is. (A similar picture is a tribal person lifting the sacrifice to the heavens as an offering to the gods.) The question for me is this, "Do I have the ability to lift the core of who I am to God? Do I have the desire to do so, or am I content with lifting my money to God or my time to God?" I guess it depends on what I believe is at the center of my being. Do I exist because of money? Do I exist because of what people think of me? Do I exist because time is at my disposal? Or, do I exist because I have a soul. Look at a dead body sometime and compare that to someone who is alive. There is a marked difference, something is missing. The essence of who they are as a person has left the shell of the body. It is a noticable change. Can I offer me, all of me, the essence of who I am, to God?

2006-03-06T15:10:00.000-05:00

"$2.31. Hmm. It's up a few cents." I thought as I drove by a BP today. I surprised by my reaction. It wasn't that long ago, maybe a year, that I thought, "$2.31!!! What the...&U*&@*^@*&@"

My how time changes things. But it still ticks me off. I feel helpless in the face of big oil companies. What can one man do? Ride my bike? Stop buying gas? No. My only choice is to get used to it. The price is here to stay.

What's going on in our lives that seem wrong at first, but after a while we begin to think, "It's not THAT bad. It could be worse." What's going on, what pressure is on us that we feel helpless to fight and we feel like we have no alternative but to give into the pressure. Maybe it's an addiction. Maybe it's pressure at work. Maybe it's a toxic or abusive relationship.
In the face of a large oil company, I don't have a lot of say in the price of gas. I know that, unless I become a revolutionary and muster the American public around the cause. Not going to happen.

But when we feel powerless to face forces in our own lives...forces out to destroy us...we can do something. We could give up and give in, or we can surrender to the all powerful God who can do more than we can ever ask or image for us. There is help. There is hope. There is a power greater than ourselves. There is a being in this universe, who, as one theologian put it, if he stop thinking of us would cease to exist. This being...God seen in the face of Jesus. He's preoccupied with our health, with our lives, with our relationships. Let him in and see what happens.

Chucking things...

2006-02-28T15:40:00.000-05:00

Last night I watched the movie, The Weatherman, starring Nicholas Cage. Maybe you've seen it too. Basically its about this guy, Dave Spritz, who is a weatherman in Chicago who behind is "sunny" face, is an emotionally broken man. A pretty good movie I thought.
One line struck me when I heard it. Dave sits in a car with his elderly father talking about his life and the book he was trying to write. The book wasn't any good and Dave was pursuing a dream of writing like his father that would never be fulfilled. Finally his dad looks at him and says, "David, this s*** life...we must chuck some things. We must chuck some things in this s*** life. You got time."
We've all got time. Some of us more, and some of us less, but in reality we all have time to pursue the right dreams and the right goals for our lives. Dave's dad is right, in order to do so, we need to simplify our lives. As the writer of Hebrews wrote long ago, "Strip down, start running--and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed..."

What is it that you need to chuck?

between the times

2006-02-24T15:06:00.000-05:00

This week my mom died. Her memorial service was Wednesday at Hope Lutheran in Fostoria. She died way too young at age 59. Too young. Two of her grandkids won't remember her because they are too young, one will have a small memory of her (she being 5), and the last grandchild who is 19 will remember everything about her life and unfortunately about her death too.
My mom died at 1:15pm. When I heard the time of death I thought about time of birth. Everyone at least in America has a specific time they were born. My son Ethan for example was born at 12:02pm on June 7. It's like a stamp on our lives...a born on date like on the side of a beer bottle. Not to be too morbid here, but we all have a died on date too. We all are living between the times, trying to make the most of the days, hours, minutes and seconds. We are trying to make our lives count as they move toward its inevitable end. The question is for every single one of us is this, "What will our life count for?"
The mayor of Fostoria showed up at the church for the memorial service Wednesday, as did lots of community people; lots of people I didn't even know. I am grateful that I can say that the last fifteen years of my mom's life counted for a lot in her service as a Red Cross director to her community. God allowed her to touch people and meet significant needs around her. I am blessed to have known her and have her as my mom.
What will our legacy be when we die? A selfless life of grace and humility, like the one Jesus led, or a self-indulgent life lived with countless burned bridges and relationships thrown away because they didn't fit?

good news

2006-02-17T12:11:00.000-05:00

A bit about my life right now. My mom is dying. I found out late Monday evening that her health had deteriorated so much that she probably would not live through this week. On Tuesday I arrived her with my family and after much discussion, decided the best thing for my mom right now is to provide her comfort care before she dies. Today she was moved to hospice care. It has been a difficult week hours for us here, but we are not without hope. The chaplain from the hospital came in Tuesday night to remind us of the love and promise of God, that neither my mom nor any of us can be seperated from God's care and love (Romans 8). We prayed. Tears were shed. Hands were held. We said our good-byes to my mom. After laying mostly unconsious through the entire evening, she did open her eyes during our time with the chaplain and opened her eyes as we all said good-bye to her before we left for the evening. She couldn't communicate, nor can she today (her health is detriorating fast), but her eyes communicated words beyond understanding. It was a bit of grace in the midst of death.

I was praying last weekend for a bit of good news and grace about my mom. Since the end of December the news from my mom about her health and life situation was nothing but bad news. God answered my prayer by allowing her to respond to our prayers for her with open eyes. Thanks God.

Right side up, or upside down?

2006-02-08T16:23:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple weeks I've been telling people about my trip to India. One of the ways I've described my experience has been to say that I was turned upside down, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally while there. But, was I turned right side up or turned upside down? In other words, were the lessons I learned there meant to bring a positive effect in my life here? I would say so. I think God used that experience to affect me in ways that I am uncovering.

For example, on Saturday, Ethan and I went to see my mom who is sick; nearly two hours north of here. What is traveling two hours to see someone who is sick? In India, without question we as a group went out of our way to see people who lived a few hours from where we were staying. One evening after we left a church dedication service, we stopped at a hospital to visit the father of one of the seminary students. It was 10:00pm at night when we arrived. What mattered wasn't the time. What mattered is that we came, visited, and prayed with he and his son Jonbabu. My question Saturday morning about my mom wasn't, "Do I have time," it was, "when shall I leave?" Since being in India, my priority to see people has changed and for that I think I am right-side up.

Being drug down

2006-01-30T15:29:00.000-05:00

Curious words from David recorded in Psalm 28, "Do not drag me away with the wicked, with those who do evil." They are curious because he presumes that God is doing the dragging. This challenges my idea of the God I know. Would the God I worship, the God I love, the God I follow, shown in the strong, simple face of Jesus, willingly drag our unwilling lives into place that are contrary to the Divine Will? Maybe this is what Jesus means when he instructs us to pray, "lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil." Maybe the God I love, worship, and serve is bigger than my comprehension of Him. His ways are not my ways. Clearly, I would never drag my son into situations that seperate him from me and his mother. That is, unless it is for his own good. We've heard the stories, maybe they've happened to us, where a parent lets their juvenile child sit in the "gray bar hotel" for the night to feel the consequences of poor choices in friends and activities. I've talked to parents who have done it, and they let their child suffer not with joy, but with a lot of pain. It's not what they wanted for their child, but it was what was best for him in that moment. Maybe that's it...David's not talking about being dragged away with the wicked forever. I agree with David. I don't want to face the consequences of the poor choices I make daily and weekly either. I'm glad God's forgiveness and love is much bigger than the sin I commit. In Christ I am free from fear, free from worry, and freed by forgiveness to live boldly.

Friday, January 27th

2006-01-27T15:22:00.000-05:00

Within the ordinary activities of life, God dwells. It's almost 3:30 on a Friday afternoon as I sit here at Caribou coffee writing this blog entry. A cup of dark roast, Sumatra, sits to my left in a white ceramic mug. Jazz plays on the speaker overhead. It's a comfortable "office" for me today. Began the day at the church organizing my day, went to a meeting for over an hour, prepared for the adult forum on Sunday, had lunch, visited 3 people in the hospital, made some phone calls, sent some emails, and now here I sit, reflecting upon where God's fingerprints might be on my day. I've prayed along the way today, as I walked to lunch, as I sat waiting before entering a hospital room, and with the three people I visited. But, I haven't taken time to obeserve the classic "pastoral offices" of daily prayer. I've tried in the past to do so. I admire the intentionality and the way some people can organize their days around those certain times to pray. It just hasn't worked for me. Maybe I'm just not organized enough, or that I resist too much structure. Maybe, I like to pray on the "fly" instead of sitting still. However, I realize that my prayers don't make God act during the day. God will act beyond my prayers. However, praying for me opens me up to see the work of the Spirit and maintains my contact with the One who has called me into this ministry. Lots of days are just mundane. My prayers are less than spectacular. But, it is in this ordinaryness of praying and living that the real relationship with the living God emerges.

Lord, open my eyes and heart to experience your still presence in the everday occurances of life. Increase my awareness and deepen my love for you and others. Jesus, you say that you were hungry and you were fed, naked and you were clothed, sick and you were visited, thirsty and your thirst slaked, and in prison and received a visit. You cross my paths not in spectacular ways, but in the ordinary ways. I hope I haven't missed you in pursuit of something bigger and better. Continually slow me down to walk at a pace that experiences the joy of your presence. In the name of Christ. Amen.

Faking it

2006-01-25T16:18:00.000-05:00

I stopped in Borders Books today for a quick break and a look around. The store phone rang and it rang, and rang, and rang and rang. I walked by it sitting next to a computer in the middle of the story, and was tempted to pick it up, answer it, and act like I know what I'm talking about as an employee of the store.

How many of us go through life faking our way through; pretending that we know what's going on, pretending that we care, pretending that we know what to do...when we really and truly don't have a clue.

People will buy our facades for a bit, but after a while people can see right through us.

Good-bye India

2006-01-19T03:51:00.000-05:00

We leave tomorrow to begin our long jouney back to the United States. I am anticipating a long two days of travel. It has been quite the great experience to work beside the Indian people here in Andrha Pradesh. They have warmly welcomed our entire group and gone out of their way to serve. I know that when I return I will be forever changed by this experience. It will only be by hindsight that I will be able to see the change God has affected within me. I'm not sure I made a huge impact here, and I didn' expect to do so. I simply wanted to show up, do my part, and see where I could effectively serve here and be an advocate for the poor back in the United States. Honestly, I think the impact has mostly been within me. It has been an incredible experience.

I hope my blog entries from the past two weeks have accurately captured life here in Guntur, India. By no means did I capture or fully understand the complete culture of India as a whole or the area within which I sit today. India's diversity and size prohibts me from doing so. At the very least, the Lord has opened my eyes to the beautiful textures of India within it's culture and people of the state of Andrha Pradesh. To that, I am extremely grateful.

A patient India

2006-01-18T07:21:00.000-05:00

There is a marked patience with this culture unlike I have seen anywhere in America. As I mentioned in a previous blog, we traveled to six congregations on the islands at the mouth of the Krishna River. We were late leaving our home in Guntur Saturday morning because of fog, and arrived 2 hours late to our first visit. Each visit after the first became successfully later. By the end of the evening, we visited our last congregation at 9:30pm, but they were expecting us around dinner time. However, with each visit, the churches were full of people. Nobody went home because we were late, nor did they show a bit of displeasure upon our late arrival. Instead, when we pulled up to the church in our SUV (a necessary vehicle to go over the roads here unlike in the U.S.) the entire church and pastor greeted us warmly and were glad that we arrived safely. If it had been America and we were three hours late, we would have shown up most likely to an empty church and a pastor standing, hands on hips, wondering where in the world we were. If a person is 20 minutes late in Columbus, people get anxious and start heading home to do something else.

I've also noticed the patience of drivers here. There is little road rage by anyone. That said, however, I would NEVER want to drive here. There are literally no traffic laws, at least in this area, and no lanes on the roads. It is a free for all between the massive trucks, SUVs, cars, scooters, bikes, pedestrians, motorcyles, and the occasional herd of water buffalo. It is chaos on the streets. In Guntur I have only seen two stop lights in the entire city, and one was working. Despite the chaos on the streets, I have not seen one car accident, nor have I seen a pedestrian hit by a car. I've even walked on the street and cars have zoomed past me, but I have never flinched. There is an inherent patience and trust in the people. People move into traffic patiently, trusting that they won't get hit. I've seen a bicyclist calmly weave his way through the traffic unnerved by the cars around him. However, I would never want such a driving system in America. I like the order we have on the roads. But it is interesting, after having been here nearly two weeks, I find myself almost used to the chaos on the road. At first I was unnerved by it, and now it has become quite ordinary. It will be interesting to drive in Columbus again to experience the difference. Will I display the same patient driving skills that I see here?

A thirsty India

2006-01-17T11:41:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we visited rural villages in this part of India with no safe drinking water. The two villages are situated on islands at the mouth of the Krishna river, before the Krishna empties into the Bay of Bengal. The people there are in desperate need of a fresh water well. One village, Nachugunta (translated "mossy hole") is a town of nearly 2000 people. It takes them nearly a half of a day to get to the nearest source of drinking water, and even that is contaminated. We were served dinner in that town by the church there. As Americans, we brought our own bottled water because any of the water in India will make us sick upon drinking it. We were traveling with two Indian men, Shalem and Peter, who were able to drink the local water. They told us after the meal that even the water at Nachugunta was unfit for them to drink. At the bottom of their cups they saw what looked like moss floating as well as other things. Unfortunately, they told us this AFTER we left, otherwise we would have shared the water we had with the people there.

The other community, Ellachettladibba, of about 500 people is even more remote than Nachugunta. They too are in desperate need for fresh water. They do have a cistern that they collect rain water from the rainy season, but currently we are in the dry season and their cistern is dry.

For both villages, it will take a company to drill at least 400 feet into the ground, past a section of salt water, before getting to fresh water. Thankfully, the organization I am with these two weeks is trying to find the funding to bring fresh water wells to these areas.

This is a major issue. Contaminated drinking water negatively affects growth in children and overall health of all people.

On the return trip from the islands, we met a father whose son had broken his arm today. The boy wasn't more than 3 years old. The dad held him the entire way from the remote village as they were beginning their 100km trip to the nearest hospital, all over very rough rural roads. They didn't have a car. They would either have to walk, hire an autorickshaw, or take a bus from the island. We offered them a ride and they accepted to let us take them half of the way. They would then catch a bus from the town we dropped them off in and ride the remaining 50km to the hospital. Once we arrived in the next town, we dropped them off at the bus stop, and gave them a few hundred rupees for their trip and doctor bills. Fortunately, traveling with the father was a rural practitioner like a paramedic who set the boy's arm and gave him a sedative for the difficult journey. It broke my heart that a family would have to travel so far for such needed help.

It's just not right.

A hands-on India

2006-01-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

This weekend we traveled to the remote congregations on the islands near the Bay of Bengal at the mouth of the Krishna River, visiting six congregations in a twenty-four hour period. On Saturday we ate three times in eight hours. Eating this weekend those meals reminded me that this is a very "hands on" society. There are no eating utensils in the rural areas. Instead, people eat with their right hand only; rice, chicken, fish, lentil paste...it's all eaten with the hands. It reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld's comment about the Chinese people, "They've seen the fork, but they're sticking with the sticks." It's the same here, "They've seen the fork, ,but they're sticking with the hand." Or as a professor at the seminary told me after I asked him at a meal if he wanted a fork to use (we had brought some along for the Americans), "No. God has given me a bigger fork," as he showed me his hand with the fingers spread apart. Sure it is messy, but you really need to slow down to eat and it, eating, involves the sensation of touch in addition to taste, sight, and smell. It is a wholistic experience.

The "hands-on" India extends to their lifestyle as well. In the rural areas especially, the people work hard all day simply to survive. As I served communion yesterday I noticed the hands of the women as they extended their palms out to receive the bread. Each woman's hands were rough and worn from hard work, very unlike the hands of American women and men whose hands are soft from office work and hand creams.

At the end of each worship service, people come forward for prayer and blessing from the pastor. I've had the priveledge of literally laying hands in prayer on hundreds of people while I've been here. While they didn't know what I was praying since I was doing so in English, the touch from my hands communicated to them in a language that crosses cultures. We all need to be touched in gentle and loving ways whether you live in India or America. In one village, a couple invited us into their home to show us their living area. When we got in their, they asked for prayer for them as a couple. So I prayed in the typical American way, head down, hands folded, eyes closed. No touching. It matters that we're all in the same room. After I prayed, the man and the woman in succession gave me a hug. Touch. Again, they had no idea what I prayed, they were just "touched" that I was willing to do so and then showed me through their spontaneous simple hug.

Last week we visited the tailor to get hand-made shirts made for us. The tailoring here is cheap and excellent. People still hand make furniture. Rice is planted and harvested by hand still. Crops are picked by hand. As I was marveling the other day about the coconut trees growing on the seminary grounds, one man said to me, "Do you want a coconut?" "Sure," I replied. He didn't run down to the supermarket to get one, nor make his way into the seminary kitchen to grab a bag of shreaded coconut for me to munch on. No, instead he summed a student to scurry up the tree to pick one of the coconuts from the tree so that they could cut it open. Once open I drank the coconut milk directly from the shell. Awesome. Hands-on.

India while progressing into the 21st century, still has a way to go. India will modernize more and more. However, while technology is great, we also lose a beautiful the "hands-on"ness of a culture. I don't think it is possible to turn back the clock on American culture a do away with technology (unless we want to become Amish), but I do think we miss something living in America 2006 that India still retains. And yet, while I admire the people of India for their working with their hands, I do love the comforts of living in American western society. I hope that technology doesn't diminish the quality of this culture in the future.

A rich India

2006-01-13T23:34:00.000-05:00

"Is this the pastor's home?" I asked Eric with a bit of shock.
"Yep, this is it." Eric replied with a bit of non-chalance.

The home was one room, smaller than my own bedroom back in the U.S. The bed, room enough for one person, took up half of the room; no queen or king size beds here. Oh yeah, and this pastor has a wife and two children. The husband and wife would share the bed made for one and the kids would throw out some mats at night and sleep on the concrete floor, daily. And yet, the family was not lamenting the scarce accomodations. This is what they know and what is common. This is normal and allows the pastor to live in equal sized homes as many of the villagers they serve. Every church we visit while here has the same set up...the home as one room serving as kitchen, bedroom, and conversation space. It would be as if I, now married with one child, were still living in the space smaller than my first dorm room in college.

I as a visitor from the west might say in my mind, "Oh poor pastor..." but the pastor and his family don't think of themselves as poor. It is what it is. My comment could be taken as the pastor lives here because he hasn't "made it." Isn't it interesting that in America when we see the nice homes in New Albany or other places we immediately think, "Boy, they've made it. They're successful." Is this true? Are the pastor and the villagers any less successful than we who live in the U.S.? Do we allow possessions to become the symbols of success?

One thing is for sure, having such a small place to live forces people to be out in the neighborhood talking, laughing, arguing, and playing with neighbors. Instead of being holed up in a multiple room home with a TV and video games, the family actually relates with other people. In my neighborhood, it is rare to see people out talking to one another. The garage door goes up, the car pulls in, and the family, including mine, goes insided to spend the evening alone with little company besides themselves. We had a neighborhood picnic this summer and we had less than half of the people from the neighborhood show up. Are we too distracted, too busy to relate with others? Am I too distracted, to busy to relate and develop relationships? Do our possessions take possession of us? While in Western standards the people of this region of India might be considered economically poor, and this is true. What I have found, however, these people are rich in friendships, joy, and laughter. This is the true wealth that I desire too.

A religious India

2006-01-13T01:47:00.000-05:00

Today is the beginning of a three day festival for the Hindus. All shops, banks, schools, and government offices are closed. The closings forced our host, Caruna, to rush to the store last night to get groceries for the next three days. Wednesday was a Muslim holiday and some, but not all, things were closed. School was also out on Wednesday for the children. I guess kids here take many holidays off like the "snow days" school children get in Ohio. After all, this week, the kids have only gone to school three days out of six (Saturday is a school day also).

The Hindu festival is one of gifts. They worship today the goddess of gifts by eating a special meal together as a family. They also decorate the "sidewalk" in front of their homes with a beautiful design made from chalk and they will do so through the 16th.

In such a diverse country, religious tolerance takes the day. All people, not matter what religion, are given the day off for that holiday. Hindus and Muslims are given Christmas off, and Christians are given the days off for the various Hindu and Muslim holidays. Unlike our country, Indians are also not offended when Christians offer "Merry Christmas" to one another. Actually, many had heard about our most recent the recent "Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays" debate. They found it curious and a bit foolish and unnecessary. Such a debate would not happen here. You are what you are. Interestingly, on Christmas 2005, one Lutheran pastor said that the church he served was overflowed with people; the community's Hindus came to worship with the Christians. The Christians of that congregation allowed the 100 or so Hindus to fill the worship space while they, the Christians and congregational members, sat outside the church listening and participating in the service. What a wonderful display of genuine love for the stranger and those outside the faith. Instead of taking the place of honor and the "good seats" the Christians gave them up to the non-Christian guests visiting the worship service.

More tomorrow...

A contrasting India

2006-01-11T06:58:00.000-05:00

This is a country filled with contrasts. Last night Eric, Paul, and I ventured up to the main part of Guntur to go to a computer store and a men's clothing store and tailor. As we left the autorickshaw to enter the very nice men's store, Eric mentions to me, "We're walking into a nice store as we step over the gutter, the open sewer." Indeed. Throughout the city, the sewer system remains open to view, much like American cities used to be in the early 20th and late 19th centuries. There are parts of Guntur that sewer pipes are being laid underneath the ground, but in many areas the sewer system is in plain view. Contrast: a very nice, Western style, men's store with beautiful men's clothing but directly outside is extreme poverty and an open sewer.

Another contrast. On Monday afternoon I sat at a computer at the seminary preparing for class. The door to the office in which I was working was open. As I worked, a farmer brought into the seminary grounds three cows for milking. Here I was, using modern technology, connected to the world via the internet, while outside a primitive operation was happening...getting milk from a local cow for the seminary.

One can walk down the street and see nice cars with a wagon being pulled by an ox beside it. As India modernizes through globalization, this contrast will begin to lessen. But for now, the contrasts remain.

Beautiful India

2006-01-10T08:40:00.000-05:00

The weather has been gorgeous, 70-80 degrees and sunshine every day. It reminds me of southern California. It has been a nice break from the clouds and cold of central Ohio in January.

I have also been struck by the vibrant colors women especially wear. When visiting the churches on Sunday, the colors of the clothing of the women and girls was beautiful; very vibrant colors.

But, beyond the colors of the clothing and the beautiful weather, the people here have shown me the beauty of the Indian people through their kindness.

Maybe it's because I am an American or at least a guest visiting this country, but the people here are the most gracious and humble people I have met in all of my life, whether they be man, woman, or child.

The last couple days when I have left the Moriah Home to walk to the seminary to teach, children will greet me with "Hi! How are you?" Or they will say, "What is your name?" Their smiles cover their entire faces. If I stand long enough talking to another adult and kids see this, they'll sneak over and wave whispering, "Hi". It almost becomes a game for them. I am amazed by their courageous welcome. Don't they know it's not good to talk to strangers? Kidding.

If we stand around long enough, graciously, someone will set out chairs for us to sit upon. At each break in the class day, one of the students gets me and the other teacher, an Indian man, something to drink: coffee or soda.

I am really taken by one young man studying in the seminary. Each day I have taught, he has made it his responsibility to carry my bag for me back to the Moriah Home. I said to him, "No, I'll carry it," but he refused to allow me to carry the bag myself. So, he and I walked back to where I am staying. When we got to the stairs, he went up with me and then went inside with me placing my bag in my room for me. I never asked the young man to carry it for me, nor do I expect him to do so. He is, out of the graciousness of his heart, willing to serve and carry my "load," my bag. During class my dry erase markers fell off the table sitting in the front of the classroom. He got up, made his way to the front, picked up the markers for me and after setting them back on the table, went back to his seat. In America, first, a person wouldn't do such a thing. Second, if he or she did, they probably would want something in return from the recipient of such a kind act: a tip, a favor, something. The only agenda I can tell from this man is grace and kindness. What a refreshing surprise. I have seen and experienced the beauty of India.

A persistant India

2006-01-09T05:33:00.000-05:00

The stark contrast between India and the United States hit me as I left the Hyderbad airport on Saturday morning at 4a.m. After retrieving our luggage we left the terminal to find our vans to take us to our hotel. The sweet smell of spices filled my nose as I entered the early morning, pre-dawn air. A crowd of people stood in front of us behind a railing waiting for their friends. The noise of traffic, honking, and people talking was incessant. As we walked toward the cars, a woman approached me, hands cupped in front of her, 'Sir, sir, sir, sir..." she kep repeating. I made eye contact with her and shook my head telling her I had nothing to give her. She followed me to the car, "Sir, sir, sir..." When I stopped, she stopped. When I walked, she walked. There was confusion about our cars so we stood waiting, and so did the woman. "Sir, sir, sir..." Finally, an Indian woman with us who met us at the airport asked her to leave. She did. But another woman, a Muslim woman came up, "Sir, sir, sir...please sir..." She was dressed in head to toe in black, and because of her head and facial covering I could only see her eyes. I got into the van in the front seat, window rolled down. She came to the window, "Sir, sir..." Her hands now on the door frame, she reaches in to tap my arm. My eyes are fixed forward. The van starts to ease slowly into traffic and she walks along side still begging. Finally as we pick up speed I am removed from the Muslim woman. Welcome to India.
There is no judgment from me on the two women. They were doing what they do at the airport. I wonder if I have the same persistant spirit in prayer? If God doesn't answer my prayer, do I keep asking? Do I keep walking with Him?

Last night over dinner, we were talking with an Indian Lutheran pastor about how Hindu people come to convert to Christianity. He told us a story. A family came to him with their mother/wife who had been sick for sometime, and the doctor had just told her she only had a few days to live. They had been to mystics, prayed to their gods, and consulted medical professionals, but none had helped. "Pastor, you are our last resort. Will you pray for her? If she gets better, we will start coming to church." So the pastor and the church began praying for the woman...for seven weeks. One day each week people would fast and pray with the woman, in her home, from 10am-4pm. So they prayed daily for seven weeks, and fasted a total of seven days. She lives today, she and her family were baptized, and is active in the congregation in which this pastor serves. We hope to meet her while we are here. The story really has two miracles: the woman's healing and the church's persistant prayer. Would we as a church in America persist or give up? I can't even imagine praying for one person for seven hours, let alone seven days and weeks. Seven minutes, yes, but seven weeks. What a wonderful example of God at work, and of faithfulness and persistance and love for a sick woman and her family. Praise God.

To India

2006-01-04T10:27:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, Eric and I head off to India for a couple weeks of teaching and preaching. We are both excited about heading off half way across the world. I anticipate the experience will be life changing and that God will transform my perspective and heart. I hope this will be true. We pray for safety. I trust that as God guided Abraham safely across the deserts of the middle east safely, as God guided Paul in his missionary journeys, and as many Israelites made yearly pilgrimages to Jerusalem...that God will guide us safely to our final destination in Guntur, India to meet the fine people there, and will guide us safely home on the 21st to greet family and friends once again. Adios.

A story to be told, not read

2005-12-23T09:52:00.000-05:00

The holidays are richer when stories are shared. Last night I sat with my son and watched the animated classic holiday show about baby new year. Rudolph, Ben Franklin, a caveman, 1023 (a armored knight), and a whale seek to rescue baby new year from the clutches of Eon the vulture. Every Christmas I find myself watching this fictional story, however far fetched it might be. Whether it be frosty the snowman, rudolph, or story of Santa, the stories enrich the experience of people seeking for meaning.

I've never read the Rudolph story in a book. I've never read the story of Santa's workshop in a book. The stories are passed down to me and others verbally and visually. I tried to read a Sesame Street book to Ethan and while an entertaining book, it's impact is lessened because the muppets are pictures on a page, not alive on the screen.

The gospel lesson for tomorrow of the birth of Jesus needs told and lived, not simply read from a book. It is a true story passed down over a period of a couple thousand years, remaining constant and pushing us to embrace God's goodness and grace. It's better told person to person, the way it was originally told before recorded in the gospel. May you be a story-teller this Christmas season and sink yourself deeply into the story of Christ in 2006.

Radical, foolish forgiveness

2005-12-20T11:42:00.000-05:00

This morning I read in the Psalms one of the most amazing statements, "When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, your forgive our transgressions." Psalm 65:3. A few things amaze me about this statement from David.

First. Unconditional. The forgiveness is not preidcated, nor is it preceeded by confession. The "we" weren't focused on God at all, nor motivated to confess sin...they were overwhelmed by sin. They were caught up in transgression. In that moment, God's forgiveness happens. It reminds me of the alcoholic still drinking, or the drug addict still using, or the person doing violence with words...God doesn't wait for us to clean up our words, get sober, or clean before forgiveness is granted. God's disposition toward his people is one of utter compassion, grace, and love to all of us who daily are "overwhelmed" by sin.

This is radical grace. You might say, "But don't they need to confess their sin?" Yes, as a means of healing and a pathway towards a better life. But if we think confession is a doorway we must go through to get to God's forgiveness, we are mistaken. In other words, our confession does not motivate God to forgive us. It is the other way around. God's forgiveness motivates us to confess our sinfulness.

Second. Present tense. The translation is in present tense. David understood that God's forgiveness is a moment to moment deal. It isn't only a past tense sentimental gratefulness, nor is it a future hope. God's forgiveness is here and now. As I write. As you read. God's forgiveness and grace is present now.

Third. Jesus. From the cross Jesus uttered the words, "Father forgive them because they don't know what they are doing." Those who crucified the Lord were overwhelmed by a sin that drove them to murder an innocent man...to push him out of the world because he was getting too close to usurping their power and authority. In that moment, as the Romans and Jews leaders looked on as Jesus' died, God's forgiveness was present for them. Did they know that? Probably not. Jesus was verbalizing the reality of God's heart in that moment. Did they understand the impact of Jesus' words? Who knows. It doesn't really matter. Knowing and acknowledging forgiveness does not make it effective. God's forgiveness effective on its own. God forgives and forgives and forgives whether we like it or not.

Expressing commitment

2005-12-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

On Sunday I met with a couple engaged to be married to talk about "love." Basically we learned that love is triangle with 3 sides: passion, intimacy, and commitment. I asked them how people might go about cultivating each in their relationship. What practical things can be done, for example, that would fuel the fires of passion? What could be done to deepen intimacy? What strengthens commitment? The common demonimator for each is communication. Without communication there is no relationship. Two strangers on a bus riding side by side in the same seat don't have a relationship unless they would begin chatting. Relationships begin with communication. What if one stranger put his arm around the other stranger? There would be communication. Or what if the other moved closer to the window trying to get away from the other person? Communication happens without words.

Physical touch communicates a desire to be close and fuels passion.
Words chosen and used well communicate a desire for greater intimacy
Simply speaking face to face with the other expresses commitment. There is no commitment without communication: agruments, complaining, sharing stories, etc. The simple act of communication reveals the heart felt commitment to the relationship. If we or the other person fails to communicate or have no desire to talk to our partner, lover, spouse, significant other, we have to wonder about our commitment to the relationship.

God speaks because he is committed to the creation. Period. He communicates to establish a relationship (intimacy), express love and concern (passion), AND to reveal His ultimate commitment to the creation.

May you hear God's voice today, and share your voice and input with those you love.

Again?

2005-12-12T14:31:00.001-05:00

"Again, the Lord spoke to Ahaz..." Isaiah 7:10.

Again. It seems to me that one of the most important words here is "again." The Lord was trying to get Ahaz's attention, but Ahaz wasn't listening. How many times has the Lord tried to get my attention and I've refused to listen or been too busy to do so? Countless. And yet, it is the Lord's undying patience with me and his unfailing love which keeps the Lord coming back. Will God ever give up? How many times did Ahaz refuse to listen...how many times have I refused to listen that the Lord stops speaking. After all, the saying goes, "It's like talking to a brick wall." This has been a fear in my life...that one word would be added to the verse, "never." "Never again [did] the Lord speak to Ahaz..." And yet, I believe in a God who despite humanity's rejection of God, will never reject us.

Again?

2005-12-12T14:31:00.000-05:00

Is it bad to be bored?

2005-12-09T12:51:00.000-05:00

I think people in this country need to be a bit more bored. We're "amusing ourselves to death," as one author put it. Yesterday, I combated boredom on a day off by filling my time with noise, the computer, and activity. While I filled my space with "stuff" I felt at the end of the day, meaningful time of thinking and creating wasn't accomplished. It seems to me that enjoyment of life, living a meaningful life, happens when we begin to think and create. In order to think and create, we need conversations with others, yes, but we also need space to think. The best ideas for games come from children who out of their boredom with the day create one. Boredom yields creativity and depth.

Are we afraid of being bored? Are we afraid of the silence? Are we afraid that we're "missing out" on the stuff of life around us? Are we allowing others to create for us...to do the meaningful work of thinking and creating? Boredom is simply another side of being still.

Relax

2005-12-05T10:04:00.000-05:00

"If God give such attention to the appearance of wildflowers...don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving."

I love this translation of Jesus' words from Matthew 6. The word that jumped out at me last night when I read it to the middle school students was "relax." Relax. Ahhhh. Take a deep breath. God is in control. I can let go and let God, as some are want to say.

Every day, my son says the same thing when he gets up, "Daddy, go downstairs and get some cereal and some milk." I fill his request gladly. Would I ever not fill his request? Yes. If he were sick, cereal and milk wouldn't be good for him. Any other time I am happy to meet his need for breakfast gladly, even if he didn't ask. I want the best for my son as does my wife.

If I am able to do this for my son, wouldn't make sense that God, whose very nature is grace, mercy, compassion, and righteousness...meet all our needs whether we pray or not? Does God need our prayers? No. Does God desire to hear from us? Yes. After all, relationships are based on communication between two parties. We communicate with God in prayer and God communicates to us. We boldly, confidently, and honestly talk to God, letting ourselves be heard, and letting the peace of God to wash over us.

Relax.

In the moment

2005-11-30T15:39:00.000-05:00

As I sat in Caribou today praying silently the Lord's Prayer, pausing at each petition to expand on it, I found myself praying a petition that I have never before prayed. When I came to, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," I began praying that God's will is done in this person's life or that person's life like, "Lord, your will be done in (insert name here) life/ministry..." But then, as if the Holy Spirit was directing my words I said, "Lord, let your kingdom come and your will be done in this moment, in these seconds, in this minute, because this is all I really have." It's not the most impressive prayer of life, but my heart resonated with the truth of it. I don't need to see God work tomorrow or in an hour or in a week, I need God now. I need God right this moment even as I write these words.

Reward for patience and persistence

2005-11-28T13:15:00.000-05:00

This morning I read the story from Luke about Zechariah (chapter 1). Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were older adults, married for quite some time, and childless. Zechariah goes into the inner sanctuary of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem to offer incense. While there he meets the angel Gabriel who tells him that his wife will become pregnant and bear a child. To me, the miracle is not that Elizabeth would be pregnant. The miracle to me is that Zechariah kept praying for a child for a number of years. Gabriel tells Zechariah, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard." It seems that deep in Zechariah's heart was a desire to be a father. He wanted a child. This deep desire, a burning deep in Zechariah's soul, manifested itself into a prayer request, a continual request to God.

I think I would have given up. Especially as the years passed...the same request prayed for a decade with no answer from God. The body begins to age. As the years turn into a decade or two my prayer to God for a child probably would be ended. I probably would conclude that God's answer is "no" and I better get on with life and face the reality of God's negative answer. Bitter? Yes. Hopeful? Not much.

And yet, Zechariah persists in prayer and FINALLY God answers.

What have I prayed for in the past that I have given up on because of time? Who have I been praying for but seen little if no results of God's activity in their lives? Will I give up praying? What is deep inside my soul that I want, but don't think I will ever get, especially as I consider the times, age factors, and the "reality" of this situation? God is not locked into our reality. I need to remember that. With God the right time to answer prayer is the right time. Timing is everything. Am I am able to persist and be patient in prayer? Can I keep the communication lines open between me and God?

Just start writing/speaking

2005-11-22T15:00:00.000-05:00

One of the lessons I've learned in life over the course of my brief, 34 years of existence, is that lots of life is spontaneous. Yes, we have our daily plans programmed into our palm pilots, written in our day planners, etc. But what about those random conversations with people that we run into while picking up coffee at Caribou? How about the conversations we have with our friends when we just pick up the phone, or the conversation over dinner with family and friends? We can plan to show up, but the content is rarely planned.

Living life fully is a courageous act. When we show up and don't know what to say, do we risk just letting the words come out? Have we ever just let the words tumble freely from our mouths and hearts in a moment? Or have we listened deeply to another, put aside our next "brilliant" insight or comment, to respond exactly to what the other person has said to us? Are we fully invested in the moment with another person, or are we physically present, but mentally absent? I hope that all of us courageously show up completely for each other. It seems to me such acts of courage are more often than not rare; Cell phones ring, watches beep indicating times up and time to move to the next project, we have another "important" item to get to on our plans.

I'm as guilty of this as the next person. On the best days I can be fully present for those around me, and other days I feel scattered and distracted by the crush of the "to do"s of life.

In January I'm heading to India for two weeks to work with the folks from Bible Faith Lutheran Church. Eric, my traveling companion, was telling me this morning that while we are there, we will travel from village to village to visit churches there. However, he said, the joke is that if you see someone killing a chicken while you're in the village, be prepared to stay awhile. Their going to make dinner and you're invited. It would be rude to move on because we just so "busy." While I love the conveniences of modern America and the technology we have to move into the future, I believe we sacrifice important relationship time to interact with technology or our work.

Maybe this hasn't made the most sense. I hope it has made some sense. Here's the truth, I just let the words flow on to the page. When I logged on to write today's blog I had no idea what I was going to write. I simply showed up and started writing. I'm glad I did. Thanks for reading.

Ils ne comprennent pas

2005-11-18T11:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I watched The Passion of the Christ for the 2nd time, the first time since the day it opened on Ash Wednesday 2004. While I understand that Gibson made artistic and cinematic choices when making the film, the story itself impacted me again. At no time did Jesus curse, abuse, or mock those who were mocking him. Like the Gospel account, Caveziel's representation of Jesus shows him silently going to his death. There were others who came to his defense, but Jesus never defended himself. Instead, Jesus speaks those powerful words of grace as he hung from the cross, "Father forgive them for they don't know what they are doing." When squeezed and pushed, what came out of Jesus' heart was grace and a passion for God. What would come out of my heart? What would come out of our hearts?

In 1969 Brennan Manning spent time in a monastic community in France. As the seven monks were sitting around a dinner table, they talked about their employers. He writes, "The table grew animated when the German brother remarked that our wages were substandard and the Spaniard added that the hours were lousy. I noted that our employers were never seen in the parish church, and a French brother suggested that they were hypocritical. The salvos got heavier and the tone more caustic...

Brother Dominique Voillaume sat at the end of the table and never opened his mouth. I saw tears rolling down his cheeks.

"What's the matter, Dominique?" we asked.

His voice was barely audible. "Ils ne comprennent pas (They don't understand)" was all he said.

organic religion?

2005-11-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

Recently I had a conversation with a young woman who, after discovering I am a pastor, said to me, "I don't attend church. I've gave up on organized religion long ago, like many people in my age group." She is in her early 30s. She went on to tell me about her sister and brother-in-law who don't attend church but maintain an interest in spiritual and theological matters. They listen regularly to a preacher and teacher and are telling her to listen to this guy as well.

"I'm interested," she said, "but I haven't listened yet." Her face displayed the skepticism her voice conveyed.

While this young woman may not be interested in "organized religion" is God at work in her life? Yes. As communities of faith I believe we need to understand that "organized" religion works for the already convinced and committed today, not necessarily the skeptics, Christians on the fringes of community, agnostics, and atheists. This woman's comments to me reinforce my notion that people start with an organic spirituality then move into organized religion, but they will do so only as the organization is healthy, affirming, and life giving. God is not confined to the structure of a church's system nor the walls of a building. The Spirit of God, as Jesus said, works like the wind, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

Let the Spirit blow into into our lives organically producing from within us faith, hope, and love.

Rhinocrash?

2005-11-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

What's in a name? Why is my blog called "rhinocrash?" Erwin McManus points out in his book, The Barbarian Way, that a group of Rhinos is called a "crash." A group of birds is a flock. A group of fish is a school. A group of Rhinos is a crash. Even at rest they are called a crash because of their potential. Why a crash? Rhinos run can run 3o mph at full speed, but they can only see 30 feet ahead of themselves. We don't want to be in the way of a charging Rhino!! Get the picture? They will crash into something.

McManus rightly points out that the church needs to act like a crash...as individuals and as a community. We need to boldly go full steam ahead into the future with this movement of Jesus trusting that while we can't see beyond "30 feet" God can. God will direct us so that we don't crash and fall flat on our faces. Will we fail? Sure. Failing is part of life, but we go boldly forward anyway because we go with a God who rights our wrongs, forgives our mistakes, and loves and empowers us to do God's will unconditionally.

Run with me.

All talk, no action

2005-11-07T12:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my son Ethan, my wife and I ate lunch at that wonderful chicken establishment...Kentucky Fried Chicken. Ethan had on his plate, a small amount of macaroni and cheese, a half eaten biscuit, and a few pieces of chicken torn from the chicken breasts we were eating. Being 2 1/2 he nibbled on the biscuits, ate a couple of pieces of chicken, and didn't touch the mac and cheese.

Half way through lunch, Ethan turns around in his seat, hands on the back of the chair, standing (or sitting...it's kind of a halfway position...) on his knees. He then calls out to the table behind us,

Ethan: "Man. Ethan eating macaroni and cheese and bread!"

Man: "Really?"

Ethan: "Yeah."

(Pause)

Ethan: "Man! Ethan eating macaroni and cheese and bread."

This went on for probably 5 minutes. Ethan said the same thing over and over to the same man. We joined in on the litany as parents, "Ethan. Turn around, sit down, and eat your macaroni and cheese." Ethan ignored us. Over the course of those five minutes I realized the human propensity to talk big but with no action starts at age 2. Ethan SAID he was eating mac and cheese, but he didn't touch the stuff. Ethan SAID he was eating bread, but he wasn't at that moment. Now, this isn't a criticism of my son at all. He's two after all. I just realize that we all do what Ethan did; all talk, no action.

How many times in the past week have we said we'd do something but haven't followed through?
How many times have we described ourselves in a flattering way when we really aren't who we say we are? "Oh yeah, I exercise..." "I'm an athlete..." "I spend time with my kids..."
How many times have we said, as Christians, "I believe Jesus is the way for everyone..." but never engage in personal evangelism?

Me. I'm as guilty as the next guy.

What if we were known as people who were more about action, less about talk, and we could back our action up with honest sharing, not good intention.

Quiet on the set...Action!

Step into community

2005-11-04T19:15:00.000-05:00

I really love this image from Grace Presbyterian here in Columbus. The key phrase for their congregation is "Grace changes everything." Never a truer statement has been made. Grace indeed changes lives. Hopefully, when you and I step into Christian community, we experience grace, that is unconditional love and acceptance. It is the important place to start with people...where we can step into a room of people and be at ease, as our imperfect selves. Does it mean blanket acceptance of every sin and behavior? No. It's not sloppy love. There is accountability, challenge, and encouragement. But growth begins with grace...acceptance...love.

I was talking with a friend of mine this afternoon about community. We are in an improv group together that performs regularly. We meet weekly to rehearse (rehearse improv? I thought it was all improvised...you may ask...more in another blog), and to twice a month to perform. We pointed out that really, the people in our group are friends and a tiny community, but we really don't know a whole lot about one another. We don't know each other's histories, our likes and dislikes, our birthdays, our favorite colors, where we grew up, etc...but we all consider each other good friends. How can this be? We simply showed up as ourselves, without all of the extra stuff we bring with us to impress others. We don't have the "props" of life. Improv as in life, there are no props, only actors. Life as in improv, there is only people. We've known each other for nearly 2 years, the six of us, but on a week to week basis. We simply are who we are. We show up, have fun, laugh, create, and make one another look good. It began however, when we all decided to show up, as ourselves...taking a step, an important step, into community.

Is the Christian community like this, or do we unconciously place standards on others or ourselves to "be somebody" before they are accepted?

"While we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us." Apostle Paul (Romans 5:8)

Everywhere

2005-10-31T12:30:00.000-05:00

Saturday night I caught a commercial for Cingular wireless. A teenager goes about her day with her dad tagging along everywhere she goes. In one particular moment in the commercial, she is riding on the back of a motorcycle with some guy driving...and so is her dad; three people on the motorcycle at once.

Then the teenage girl looks at the camera and says, "Dad, since you want to be around me all the time, now you can." Cue the introduction of Cingular's latest product.

The commercial immediately reminded me of God's desire, our Heavenly Father's desire, to be around us all the time. David writes in Psalm 139,

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit down and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar...you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?"

We can choose either to be bothered by our Father's presence or be glad for his painstaking care and concern for our welfare. If we find ourselves bothered, we must ask why. Are we acting in ways contrary to God's desire? Are we trying to hide sin? Are we feeling confined? Why?

For me, I am grateful for my Abba's care for my life (Abba's the Aramaic word for Father that Jesus used for God the Father. The Spirit allows us to use it as well as followers of Jesus. Literally it means, 'Dad') I am grateful for his partnership in my life. I never go anywhere alone. I simply open my eyes to the reality of God's presence in my life.

"Abba, since you want to be everywhere I am, now you can..."

Barefoot

2005-10-26T12:03:00.000-05:00

So I'm sitting yesterday with the bishop of our synod and other pastors in the area discussing a passage from scripture, Luke 10:1-12. Then it hits me. Jesus wants us to go barefoot! For me there is nothing like walking through a yard of freshly cut grass in bare feet or walking across a warm sandy beach. Before you think I'm crazy, listen to what Jesus says, "I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals..." Carry no sandals. There it is. Barefoot!

Why? Now I don't think that we talk it literally in the 21st century. Jesus wants us to be known for love as his followers, not as some kooks who walk around barefooted in the snow. His words are contextual to a point. I do think he meant what he said to those seventy plus people that day. He did want them to go barefoot. But what about us? Is there a lesson in there for we who walk in the footsteps of Jesus? Yep. Three.

First, going barefoot makes you tread a bit more lightly on the ground. Maybe as followers of Jesus we need to walk more slowly and intentionally in life, paying attention to what's around us. Maybe we need to lay aside for a while our fast track to success to embrace those around us.

Second, going barefoot makes you more relaxed. Maybe when we walk through this world we need to take a deep breath and relax. Maybe we take life too seriously. Are our laces tied too tight? Maybe we need to trust God a lot more. Let go and let God.

Third, going barefoot shows humility. Maybe we need to approach God as Moses did long ago, barefoot. When Moses approached the burning bush from which God was speaking, God told Moses to take off his shoes in worship and respect.

Go ahead. Slip off those shoes with me.

It's the network

2005-10-25T11:08:00.000-05:00

Last night I saw the latest Verizon wireless commercial during the Monday night football game. The commercial shows two men standing outside a stadium talking about something. I don't recall what the content of the conversation was, but I do remember the end of their conversation.

"That's your network?" The Verizon guy looks at the other guy. The other guy has a tiny crowd of maybe five ro six people behind him to represent his support network for his wireless company.

"That's your network?!" the other guy says to the Verizon guy. Behind the Verizon guy stands a huge crowd of people. "Yep," he says.

It got me thinking. How big is my network of friends? When I turn around, who is behind me? Am I standing alone? Who do I stand behind? Who am I supporting?

Verizon's underlying message in the commercial is, "the bigger your network, the more support you'll have, you'll have greater communication, and you will be much more successful in life."

What if the church was like this? What if instead of being a "spiritual gas station" as another pastor put it, we were a community where we network with each other. We are connected by virtue of our service provider, Jesus. What if we all stand behind one another instead of walking away searching for a better spiritual high?

Alone no more

2005-10-24T18:18:00.000-05:00

I refuse to live the life alone.

I can make a greater impact for God in this world when I work in partnership with others. There is great power in partnership, whether that partnership is with God or with other people. The potential for creative energy housed within a group is tremendous.

Let us all move away from fear and isolation into community where we give and receive love, where we challenge and are encouraged, where we can honestly share without fear of reprecutions, where together we make a great impact for God.

We stand together.