The Great Unknown

Last Sunday I spoke about our "Ultimate Journey" of life being meaningless if we aren't excited about the destination. I am finishing up a study of 1 & 2 Timothy, and my text was from Paul's classic farewell passage in 4:6-8, "...the time has come for my departure". A couple of years ago I said in a lesson that if we were really looking forward to going to heaven, when a brother or sister in Christ pasted away we'd be saying "You lucky dog!" rather than feeling cheated by loss. I used another familiar refrain Sunday to make a similar point. On all our long family trips when the kids where little, we heard what every family hears, "Are we there yet?" Today, with so many children watching movies on DVD screens in there vehicles, it's probably not heard as much. They may even want you to slow down so they can finish the movie before you arrive.
What makes any journey worthwhile, no matter how long and trying it may be, is the anticipation of arrival at the desired destination. Yet, when it comes to heaven, we don't hear many of us saying, with excitement and anticipation - in principle - "Are we there yet?" Are we having a difficult time letting go of this world? Have we forgotten that we are aliens and strangers in a foreign land? Is our faith and trust in God still a little weak?
I'm sure there is some form of "yes" to every one of those questions, but did you ever stop to consider how little we really know about our final destination? Sure, we have an "it's something like this" description from John in Revelation, and Jesus promised us a room/place - not a mansion, and we all understand that God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God's people from all ages past, present, and future will be there, but there is still SO MUCH THAT WE JUST DON'T KNOW! It's not like looking forward to a Disney World trip, or going on a cruise to the Panama Canal like we plan to do in January, or even like a long awaited trip to see loved ones. What will we look like, how will we feel, what can and can't we do, what will it look like, how can there be no time, how much will we remember, will there really be no sadness if we still have our memories, how can there be room for so many, assuming there will be so many, and - well - there's just a lot of unanswered questions. So we are talking about the unknown, and even though we totally trust in God and have no worries about how wonderful heaven will be...it's still just a little hard to get excited about letting go of THIS and finding out about THAT!
Did you ever stop to consider that there may be a very good reason why God didn't give us more information about heaven? Not only is it beyond our comprehension, but maybe - just maybe - if we really knew HOW INCREDIBLE HEAVEN IS, we'd want to go there too much - and forget that we've got a job to do here first! God gave us everything that "pertains to life and godliness" and all we need to be "thoroughly equipped for every good work" so evidently, more info about heaven is not needed or necessary for us to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
Besides, don't you just love a good surprise?

Missed Opportunity

Look into the absolute center of the above picture and imagine a very respectable buck standing broadside. That is what I was looking at from my treestand at 7:40 this morning. I had been a little down about this seasons hunting because I've seen so few deer in either state I've been hunting in - IL & MO. This morning I went to my MO spot. It was comfortably cool and eerily quiet. I heard the buck coming long before I saw him. This is what I've practiced for, waited all year for, and put in lots of hours to achieve. The dream opportunity of the season! Unfortunately, things didn't go as I'd hoped. I don't even want to tell what happened, but suffice it to say, it was incredibly disappointing.
As I was returning home and reflecting on the morning hunt, (remember it is called hunting not killing) I thought about the connection between opportunities and blessings. In many ways they are synonyms. Opportunities are blessings and blessings are opportunities. But have you ever thought about fact that they are still blessings and opportunities even if we miss it or mess it up? In fact, I'm sure we've missed more than we've caught, because we've all had blessings and opportunities that we never even knew were there. The amazing thing is that we continue to receive blessings even though we miss some or are not grateful for the ones we got. Opportunities are the same way. If we miss an opportunity, there will be others. Even if the missed opportunity was one we desperately wanted to not miss, there will be others. I especially think about all the opportunities God gave me to learn certain things, and most of the time it took many many opportunities before I got it.
I guess the lesson is to remember that God will take care of us and he will provide us with everything we need to do the important things in life. He promised that. As far as all the other things that we "want" to do, sometimes you get multiple opportunities and sometimes you don't, but each one is a blessing even if we blow the chance. Our job is to persevere, learn, and do better the next time.
I'm ready for a picture of something besides just trees.

"99 Bodies of Brethren on the Wall"

At our monthly preachers meeting this morning, the brother who was leading the discussion asked us to do two things. First he asked us to list in order of priority the ten things we need to do to be successful in ministry, and they he asked us to do the same with ten things we needed to do to be effective in ministry. He was making a good point for us to think about. There is a difference between a successful ministry and an effective ministry. The truly big question, however, is how and from where we define success and effectiveness. I am totally convinced that most church leaders define both more from worldly standards than from God's plans. My #1 on both lists was "Helping people have a deeper relationship with Jesus." There is nothing more important and there is no better qualifier of success than someone drawing closer to Jesus. Sometimes it's introducing someone to Jesus, and helping them begin their spiritual journey with Him, and sometimes it's helping a brother or sister in Christ love Him more, know Him better, or become just a little more like Him. That involves caring about people, loving them, and helping them use the tools God has given us so that we can deepen our relationship with Him. Our focus on "numbers = success" comes from the world. Jesus talked about numbers, but He emphasized the need of the one over the ninety and nine. The world would say that what counts most is the ninety-nine up on the attendance display board. To Jesus, success and effectiveness was measured by finding that one who wandered away and bringing it back into the fold. Maybe if we start doing that with the one hundred God has given us, He might blesses us with one thousand to guide and shepherd.

I Want Patience - NOW!

I won't be wearing an "I Love New York" T-shirt any time soon. I enjoyed NY, but I'd be lying if I said I loved it. I loved seeing our son and daughter-in-law, I enjoyed seeing some sights that are historical treasures of our country, and I loved spending some time with our good friends Don and Kathy. So-if they come out with an "I Enjoy New York" T-shirt, I might wear one. I'm not into crowds, dodging people on the sidewalks, standing like sardines in lines for everything, and I'd have a very difficult time getting use to the Kamikaze traffic and constant noise. I heard more car horns in our first day in NY than I've heard in St. Louis over the last five years. Lots more!
I don't share that to bash NY. Remember, I enjoyed it. I share it because there are few things that symbolize impatience more than honking a car horn. Car horns lost their practical usage a few decades ago, but we'd feel cheated if we didn't have one in any car we purchased. They are tools of frustration to let someone know we don't like what they did, or that they need to hurry up! That is where the phrase "A New York Minute" came from. That is defined as the time between when the traffic light changes and the car behind you honks it's horn. It's also known as "a split second".
While I feel like I have grown considerably in my journey to be a more patient person, I still find it to be a daily struggle. Whether it's my computer that moves at a snail's pace or trying to fast forward through commercials when it's not a recorded program, I am reminded regularly, I have a long way to go. Now, if I could just hurry up and get there. Oh wait, isn't that being impatient about being patient?
I have to add to my list of confessions that I've never spent much time considering the last phrase of 2 Timothy 4:2. I've always zeroed in on Paul's charge to "Preach the word" and the challenge to be ready to "correct, rebuke, and encourage." Any good Bible major memorized this verse right after memorizing Acts 2:38. It's the "Preacher's Verse"! But what about that last phrase "...with great patience and careful instruction"? That sounds like good advice to parents or to some school teacher, but not something for any "go-getter-church-building-success-driven" young preacher! Ouch - or older preacher.
Yet, think about it - preaching the "word" - as Paul is presenting it, is preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified! It's not preaching about opinions, petty preferences, and personal exegesis that leads to Pharisaical patterns to bind. It's presenting Jesus! And if I am presenting Jesus I must be like Jesus! We preachers love the call to correct, rebuke, and encourage, but we must do that under the umbrella of Jesus and His love. Hence, "great patience and careful instruction"! They are the tools that Jesus would use to do the job He called on us to do.
Aren't you glad He doesn't honk a car horn every time we forget that?

The Big Apple Trip

This is the Observation Deck on the Empire State Building. It was neat to be able to see New York in all directions. It was a beautiful day with very little wind - even up there. The night before, we all got soaked by the rain. This is definitely a MUST for any visit to NY, but I was not ready for the huge crowds of people. Pre-purchase tickets on line and go in the morning as soon as they open. The lines were longer than Disney World and you go through several different levels of lines. I was also surprised by how many foreign languages we heard all around us. It makes sense that any foreigners visiting America would want to see NY, but I was still surprised at how many and the tremendous variety.

I recommend the tour bus. It's a great way to see everything and you have the option to get on and off anywhere you want. You can use it for pure transportation, but not if you're in a hurry. It was so neat to see the advertisements for Toxic on walls, buses, and even trash cans. This is the same picture as my last blog. JD is the cop - second from the left.

The elevator was broken at Lady Liberty and again, the crowds were huge, especially catching the ferry back and forth. Don't be in a hurry! Even with tickets, pre-bought on-line, we only got to go up to the observation deck (the balcony below the statue). To go up through the statue takes another ticket and you have to reserve it way ahead of time. It was still neat to see it up close after seeing it so many times from planes. If you don't like lines and you don't care about up close, you can take a harbor cruise that circles all the islands and lets you see everything in comfort. We had tickets for that but not the time. Also, the Long Island Ferry is free and allows you to see everything too - from a distance. Thanks to Don Rose for sitting on the ground to get the above picture.

It was raining on Saturday when we arrived, then we had two beautiful days on Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday, our last full day there, it was raining again, but we really wanted to see Central Park. It was really beautiful, even in the rain, and it was much bigger than I ever thought it would be. It's two and a half miles long and a half mile wide, with lakes, trails, roads, and buildings of all kinds - not to mention all kinds of sports fields from baseball to tennis. And there are all kinds of things around it or attached to it like museums, the zoo, and lots of other stuff. It is really hard to believe you're in the middle of NY City when you're walking around in the park.

That night we went to dinner with Jonathan and Holly at Otto's, one of Mario Batali's restaurants, in "The Village". It was nice to spend some time with them. We see them less than anyone else in the family because of Jonathan's show schedule, which doesn't include vacation during any holidays. They really do love NY and seem to be coping well with incredibly busy work lives. We really hope that we can go back again before too terribly long.

A Toxic Trip

(Jonathan is the Cop)

We got back from our trip to the Big Apple yesterday at about 5:00 P.M.. We had a great trip for a lot of reasons. First, because we got to see Jonathan and Holly, and see the new musical Jonathan is in, The Toxic Avenger. Second, because we met up with our good friends from Nashville, Don and Kathy Rose, who we always love to be with. And finally, it was nice to spend some time touring New York City and seeing some of the places I've heard about all my life but never had the time to go see. Things like the Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. We did the bus tour thing, which was really nice and informative, and we used the train system for all our travel. Yes, it is a very crowded, hectic, and busy city with some of the craziest drivers in the whole world, but it is a neat place to visit. I've got a long list of things I wanted to see but just didn't have the time.
As mentioned, the highlight of the trip was seeing The Toxic Avenger. It has to be the funniest musical I have ever seen. It is fast-paced, hilarious, and full of incredible music and singing. The five actors are all incredible and the costume/character changes that the White Dude, Black Dude, and Mayor/Mom do is amazingly funny and entertaining. It's a little gross, with a few words, and suggestive jokes that would make me say it's probably a PG13, but it's so funny and fast that those moments are short-lived.
We, of course, especially enjoyed seeing all the incredible things that Jonathan had to do. He has some 16 characters that he plays and his ability to change costumes, roles, voices, and genders is hilarious. I feel like I need to see it a couple more times just to keep track of them all. We especially got a kick out of the first female character he played. You can't see it as much in the picture below (from their web page), but when he did certain things while singing, he looked just like his sister Deborah.

(Jonathan as Diane)

This actually isn't the first girl he plays in the show, but the wig framing his face gives him a very familiar look. It was a great show with great acting and music. I've seen a lot of musicals, and yes, I am partial, but it was one of the best - most fun shows I've ever been to.
We had a wonderful time, but as always - it's nice to be home.

Things Change...

This picture of our grand kids has been on my computer screen since we took it the first week of June. It's missing baby Daniel who was a tiny thing back then, and Caden, who wouldn't arrive until late September. Things change. This was one of the last pictures taken of our old porch, which was really just a concrete slab. Construction of the new covered porch began in earnest just days after the play was over and everyone was back at their homes. This is our porch today, the morning of the final inspection. There are still a ton of cosmetic things I want to do, but there isn't any hurry to do them and I also really want to remove the County Inspectors from the whole equation before we do anything else. Plus, I don't want to drag out their part of this until the Spring, when I'll probably being doing the final things, like the ceiling, painting, staining, and trim. It has been a lot harder than I thought it would be, but still it's been fun and very fulfilling to see each part come together. With my partner Steve Smith helping me all the way, we've gone the second mile to make it stronger and sturdier than the plan required. Our running joke is that this porch will still be standing when the house falls down. That's probably not much of an exaggeration.

For those of you who are family and friends, I hope the running reports have been interesting and informative. Part of the reason I started this blog was just to let you know what's happening with the Roots in St. Louis. Now, when you don't hear from us or see new blogs, you'll know why. We're sitting out on the porch enjoying the view.