I had a dream a few nights ago. I was standing in waist-deep water at the beach, with the waves crashing over me. They were much taller than I was, and they kept coming relentlessly, one after the other. I could barely catch my breath from one before the next crashed down on me.
I think a psychotherapist would have a hayday with that one. I don't claim to have the gift to interpret dreams, but I think anyone could interpret this one. The crashing waves represent the demands of my life right now, and in the recent past. I think there are very few persons who could understand the pressure of going to school full time to complete a Masters Degree, while trying to be a good husband and father and a pastor all at the same time.
In my last post I wrote, "when ministry gets difficult, it is often because I have neglected what I have been called to do for secondary activities." Hmmm; sounds like I need to sort out some priorities, doesn't it? I also wrote in a previous post about God's discipline. That's all part of this process, too. I'd appreciate your prayers as God and I get all this sorted out over the coming weeks. Actually I think God probably already has it sorted out.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Ouch
I am being disciplined by my loving heavenly Father. He really loves me, but the discipline still really hurts. I’ve been going through some things, and wondering why. I was reading God’s Word in preparation for this Sunday’s teaching, when I realized that maybe the main recipient of this lesson is me.
Here’s the thing: I’ve recognized this as God’s discipline, and that makes me feel a little better, because I know the reason God disciplines us is not to destroy us, but to make us better. But I’m also feeling more than just a little stiff-necked. I love that word combination employed in the wilderness experience texts to describe the stubbornness and unteachableness of the recently delivered Israelite people. But I don’t love it when it’s me. And here’s something I’m realizing; I know God is on my side and this is happening to me to make me more like Christ. It’s a wonderful thing to be loved by the kind of God who accepts me as I am, but loves me too much to just leave me this way. He loves me enough to hurt me so good.
Read Hebrews 12:4-11 and you’ll understand.
Here’s the thing: I’ve recognized this as God’s discipline, and that makes me feel a little better, because I know the reason God disciplines us is not to destroy us, but to make us better. But I’m also feeling more than just a little stiff-necked. I love that word combination employed in the wilderness experience texts to describe the stubbornness and unteachableness of the recently delivered Israelite people. But I don’t love it when it’s me. And here’s something I’m realizing; I know God is on my side and this is happening to me to make me more like Christ. It’s a wonderful thing to be loved by the kind of God who accepts me as I am, but loves me too much to just leave me this way. He loves me enough to hurt me so good.
Read Hebrews 12:4-11 and you’ll understand.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Jericho
Jericho was awesome tonight. I hate it that the season is almost over. It's hard to believe there have already been 20 episodes. My sons, Ben and Will, watch Jericho with me, and I gotta tell you that time spent together is becoming one of my favorite hours of the week.
It's amazing how a simple thing like nuclear holocaust can bring a father and sons together!
It's amazing how a simple thing like nuclear holocaust can bring a father and sons together!
Catching Up
I haven’t written for almost a week. There are lots of reasons for that, but the most important are these: 1) I’ve been sick as a dog (a dog with bronchitis); 2) I’ve been distracted (it’s amazing how easily we (I) can be distracted from what's really important—how did Jesus keep things in perspective? Read this from Perry Noble -- I'm going to re-read it myelf); and 3) I’ve been busy (for the life of me I don’t know how some bloggers write every day, sometimes more than once a day, and still have time for anything else in their lives!).
It’s like the old “red dot” illustration. A person holds up a piece of paper that looks like this:
The subject is asked to describe what he/she sees. The answer is invariably something like, “A red dot,” or “I see a red dot.”
The truth is the red dot in this illustration is approximately (I never claimed to be a mathematician) 3/100 of 1 per cent of the total field area. Why is it all we see is the red dot, rather than the white field?
That’s the way my life is right now. I’m seeing the red dot (the bad) and missing the white field (the good). I’ll be sending out a letter to my congregation later this week that talks about the good things happening at Connellsville Church of God. Maybe I’ll include a copy of that letter here.
Let me catch you up on some good things that have been going on around here in just the last few days:
This weekend was our “Plan B Marriage Seminar.” We could have called it “The Marriage Seminar Formerly Called Marriage Retreat.” Many of our people did not want to travel to our church’s state camp ground at Emlenton, PA, so we moved the location from Whitehall to our church’s fellowship hall, and changed the name from a retreat to a seminar, hoping to add a few more couples, which we did.
The seminar was better than any of us could have imagined. Thanks to our conference leaders Elaine and Galen Swanigan for a wonderful weekend and a job well done. If anyone would like to invite the Swanigans to lead a conference at their church, contact me and I’ll put you in touch.
While the conferees were enjoying the marriage seminar in the fellowship hall, Travis and Judy Deans were leading the rest of our congregation in worship and the Word. Thank you to Travis and Judy for a job well done; I’ve heard lots of positive comments. Before too long we’ll be inviting Judy back for a concert.
Anyway, it was a great weekend. If it weren’t for the rainy days, we’d never appreciate the sunshine; if it weren’t for our troubles, we’d never appreciate our blessings; if it weren’t for (insert your own cliché here).
God is good, and I’m anticipating many good days ahead.
It’s like the old “red dot” illustration. A person holds up a piece of paper that looks like this:
The subject is asked to describe what he/she sees. The answer is invariably something like, “A red dot,” or “I see a red dot.”The truth is the red dot in this illustration is approximately (I never claimed to be a mathematician) 3/100 of 1 per cent of the total field area. Why is it all we see is the red dot, rather than the white field?
That’s the way my life is right now. I’m seeing the red dot (the bad) and missing the white field (the good). I’ll be sending out a letter to my congregation later this week that talks about the good things happening at Connellsville Church of God. Maybe I’ll include a copy of that letter here.
Let me catch you up on some good things that have been going on around here in just the last few days:
This weekend was our “Plan B Marriage Seminar.” We could have called it “The Marriage Seminar Formerly Called Marriage Retreat.” Many of our people did not want to travel to our church’s state camp ground at Emlenton, PA, so we moved the location from Whitehall to our church’s fellowship hall, and changed the name from a retreat to a seminar, hoping to add a few more couples, which we did.
The seminar was better than any of us could have imagined. Thanks to our conference leaders Elaine and Galen Swanigan for a wonderful weekend and a job well done. If anyone would like to invite the Swanigans to lead a conference at their church, contact me and I’ll put you in touch.
While the conferees were enjoying the marriage seminar in the fellowship hall, Travis and Judy Deans were leading the rest of our congregation in worship and the Word. Thank you to Travis and Judy for a job well done; I’ve heard lots of positive comments. Before too long we’ll be inviting Judy back for a concert.
Anyway, it was a great weekend. If it weren’t for the rainy days, we’d never appreciate the sunshine; if it weren’t for our troubles, we’d never appreciate our blessings; if it weren’t for (insert your own cliché here).
God is good, and I’m anticipating many good days ahead.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
This Weekend
This is the weekend we've been waiting for! Our "Plan B Marriage Seminar" with Galen and Elaine Swanigan begins Friday night at 7:00 p.m. and runs through noon on Sunday. This will be a valuable time of spiritual and marital growth, not to mention the bonds that will be forged among seminar participants.
Don't worry; we haven't forgotten those who will not be participating in the seminar.
Travis and Judy Deans will be our guest leaders in our regular worship celebration this Sunday. Travis will be bringing God's word and Judy will be leading our congregation to the throne in worship. Travis is co-director of Teens for Christ in Fayette and Westmoreland Counties. Read his thought-provoking April 2007 article at the National Network of Youth Ministries website here.
Don't look for a post from me on Friday. Friday is my day off, and I have decided I need to refrain from posting on Fridays for my spiritual and family health. When I can, I'll report on the Marriage Seminar. It's gonna be great!
Don't worry; we haven't forgotten those who will not be participating in the seminar.
Travis and Judy Deans will be our guest leaders in our regular worship celebration this Sunday. Travis will be bringing God's word and Judy will be leading our congregation to the throne in worship. Travis is co-director of Teens for Christ in Fayette and Westmoreland Counties. Read his thought-provoking April 2007 article at the National Network of Youth Ministries website here.
Don't look for a post from me on Friday. Friday is my day off, and I have decided I need to refrain from posting on Fridays for my spiritual and family health. When I can, I'll report on the Marriage Seminar. It's gonna be great!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Law & Order (Part 2 of 2)
In the last part of this post, I mentioned my perception of an anti-Christian bias on the part of Law & Order’s writers and producers. I have to ask, is the general public’s perception of Christians as bad as their portrayal on TV? I can’t believe it is, but it brings up the question of the church’s function in the Kingdom of God.
The kingdom has an already but not yet nature, in that it is a present reality—alive in the hearts of Christ followers everywhere, and still it has not yet come in its fullness, and will not until its consummation at the return of Christ. What the kingdom is and will be, should be modeled by the church here and now.
Bertil Ekstrom, Executive Director of the World Evangelical Alliance, acknowledges the already but not yet nature of the kingdom and insists the kingdom could be more present if the church understood its power and behaved in a manner consistent with being its citizens. [1] When the church acts like the church, it draws souls into the kingdom. C. S. Lewis wrote: "When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world." [2] The church is a herald, a witness, a window to the kingdom.
In his book God’s Redeeming Story, Richard Willowby writes: “The only way in which the world can recognize itself to be the world and not the church is for the church’s witness to be faithful and healthy. When that witness lacks faithfulness, the body becomes unhealthy. When the body becomes unhealthy, it acts in ways that ultimately confuse the world. A confused world finds it easy to turn its eyes away from the Christ toward whom the body must ultimately point if it is to be faithful to him.” [3]
As chief witness it is the church’s task to point the world to the kingdom. The church is intended to be a living reality of what the kingdom will be like in eternity. When the church acts just like the world, bickering among its members rather than celebrating the unity we have been gifted with, the world says, “Oh; that must be what the kingdom is like.” When the church withdraws into its protective stance to keep the outcast at arm’s length, the world says, “Oh; that must be what the kingdom like.” When the church endorses, at least by its silence, the exploitation and brutalization of oppressed peoples, the world says, “Oh; that must be what the kingdom is like.” And when the church shows preference to the powerful and the beautiful, and represses the weak, the world says, “Oh; that must be what the kingdom is like.”
What the world sees in the church is what the world understands to be the truth of the kingdom. Whether or not the world is drawn to desire the kingdom depends on the character and actions of the church. When the church acts as the church should act, it clearly points the world in the direction of the kingdom. When the church reaches out in love to the poor, the sick, the prisoner, and the outcast; when the church lives in obedience and stands for the truth and against injustice; when the church recognizes the equality of all Christians whether they are majority or minority, wealthy or poor, male or female, the world says, “Oh; that must be what the kingdom is like.”
[1] Bertil Ekström, “The Kingdom of God and the Church Today,” Evangelical Review of Theology 27, no. 4 (2003), 295.
[2] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity rev. ed. (San Francisco: HarperSan Francisco, 1952), 208.
[3] Merle D. Strege and Richard L. Willowby, God’s Redeeming Story (Anderson: Warner, 1996), 157.
The kingdom has an already but not yet nature, in that it is a present reality—alive in the hearts of Christ followers everywhere, and still it has not yet come in its fullness, and will not until its consummation at the return of Christ. What the kingdom is and will be, should be modeled by the church here and now.
Bertil Ekstrom, Executive Director of the World Evangelical Alliance, acknowledges the already but not yet nature of the kingdom and insists the kingdom could be more present if the church understood its power and behaved in a manner consistent with being its citizens. [1] When the church acts like the church, it draws souls into the kingdom. C. S. Lewis wrote: "When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we are making Christianity unbelievable to the outside world." [2] The church is a herald, a witness, a window to the kingdom.
In his book God’s Redeeming Story, Richard Willowby writes: “The only way in which the world can recognize itself to be the world and not the church is for the church’s witness to be faithful and healthy. When that witness lacks faithfulness, the body becomes unhealthy. When the body becomes unhealthy, it acts in ways that ultimately confuse the world. A confused world finds it easy to turn its eyes away from the Christ toward whom the body must ultimately point if it is to be faithful to him.” [3]
As chief witness it is the church’s task to point the world to the kingdom. The church is intended to be a living reality of what the kingdom will be like in eternity. When the church acts just like the world, bickering among its members rather than celebrating the unity we have been gifted with, the world says, “Oh; that must be what the kingdom is like.” When the church withdraws into its protective stance to keep the outcast at arm’s length, the world says, “Oh; that must be what the kingdom like.” When the church endorses, at least by its silence, the exploitation and brutalization of oppressed peoples, the world says, “Oh; that must be what the kingdom is like.” And when the church shows preference to the powerful and the beautiful, and represses the weak, the world says, “Oh; that must be what the kingdom is like.”
What the world sees in the church is what the world understands to be the truth of the kingdom. Whether or not the world is drawn to desire the kingdom depends on the character and actions of the church. When the church acts as the church should act, it clearly points the world in the direction of the kingdom. When the church reaches out in love to the poor, the sick, the prisoner, and the outcast; when the church lives in obedience and stands for the truth and against injustice; when the church recognizes the equality of all Christians whether they are majority or minority, wealthy or poor, male or female, the world says, “Oh; that must be what the kingdom is like.”
[1] Bertil Ekström, “The Kingdom of God and the Church Today,” Evangelical Review of Theology 27, no. 4 (2003), 295.
[2] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity rev. ed. (San Francisco: HarperSan Francisco, 1952), 208.
[3] Merle D. Strege and Richard L. Willowby, God’s Redeeming Story (Anderson: Warner, 1996), 157.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Virginia Tech
Our thoughts and prayers for God's peace and his presence go out to the survivors, families and friends of all involved in the Virginia Tech shootings.
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