From Cabo to Chilly

From this...

...to this - in just hours. Quite a shock to the system to step out of the airport in St. Louis into cold, wind-blowing snow after spending all those days in summertime temps. But, the BIG WINTER BREAK was everything we hoped it would be. It's nice to back, even if it's sixty degrees colder.

By the way, the top picture is at Cabo San Lucas and it is the REAL "Land's End" at the tip of the Baja Peninsula.

Normal blogs to follow starting next week.

Last Full Day at Sea

It's the last full day of the cruise, so we are relaxing, buying the last of our ship-taken pictures, and getting ready to pack this afternoon so we can literally hit-the-deck-running tomorrow morning. The above pic was yesterday morning just after we anchored off Cabo San Lucas. It's a beautiful place, with incredible beaches and lots of water wildlife. We saw whales, dolphins, and seals, and tons of pelicans. It was so much cooler and dryer there. It's dessert all around Cabo and it's literally at 'lands end'. We really enjoyed it. Isn't she good looking?

While some of our group was on a whale watching tour, this group walked the town looking for good shopping deals. Donna, of course, is taking the picture. It was the most enjoyable place to walk and shop in on the whole trip.

This is Donna and I and a thorny friend we found in town. Speaking of whales, have we mentioned how much we've been eating? Oh my, it's been so good, but we must pay for it with exercise and diet when we get back.

Donna is not this white! In fact, she is a little sunburned. Our waiter is de-shelling her lobster and prawns - allows us to dip it in the butter faster. It was sooo good - non-fat too - NOT! Lord willing we will arrived back in St. Louis about 7:45 tomorrow night. I hear they're expecting snow and rain there tomorrow - ouch! Have I mentioned how nice the mid-winter vacation to a warm place is? We're already planning the next one for 2012 - believe it or not. It will take that long to pay off this one and save for the next, but it's worth it!

God bless. Next week I'll be back to the usual blog-grind.

PS. Spell check isn't working so all mis-spelling is the fault of Blogger - Ha!

Huatulco & Acapulco

This was right after we finished doing the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5k on the ship this morning. It was neat. A very different way to do this great cause than we've ever done it before. It's been a nice & easy day at sea today.

This is the harbor at Huatulco, Mexico. It's a little resort town with a beautiful beach. We did a tour their that was interesting, but not much history. Still, what a beautiful place.

Yesterday we were in Acapulco and ended a long, rather boring tour by getting to see the famous cliff divers. This is just one of our pictures of the seven guys who dove off the cliffs. It was worth the price of the tour to just see this. Awesome. Two dove from the top at 130 feet. Like I said, we were hoping for a splash and not a splat!

This is the whole group leaving for yesterday's tour -minus Don Rose who is taking the picture. It's has really been a fun group to travel with. We are in Cabo San Lucas tomorrow, so I'll try to do one last blog w/ pics on Thursday. It takes so long to down load the pictures that this blog will be one of the most expensive parts of the trip. Ha! Who cares! God bless.

This is at a small town in the mountains of Costa Rica yesterday. It was an awesome tour of the country-side and small towns with lots of information given about the country. Here we are eating empanadas made by locals after a dance performance by some children in the town. They got to do the show because they had good grades. It's their Summer break now. It was lots of fun. My favorite so far.

This is the beach were we docked at Puntarenas. All through those trees are dozens of little shops selling everything you can imagine. Pretty beach, but really a very hot day. Upper 90's again. I heard there was a snow storm in SL!

This is the children doing one of their dances. I'll try to do another blog after Acapulco tomorrow. God bless.

South and Central America

Theses are three quick picks from over 250 pictures of the last three days. Wish I could put more up but the cost is high and the downloading is sooo slow. This is Donna with the port of Cartagena around us. Neat tour. Temps where 98 & we both got sunburned. I know, you really feel sorry for us.

The Panama Canal transit was incredible - to say the least. There is no way the pics do it justice. We started at 5 am and finished about 3 pm. We watched it all! It was really amazing to see it work especially when you remember it was build over 100 years ago. We have tons of pics and even this one is hard to appreciate because you can't imagine how huge it is.

Yesterday we did a tour of Panama City. We saw both the old and the new. The high rise buildings in new Panama City is unbelievable. It was a neat tour, in the 90's again but not nearly as tiring a hike as Cartagena was. We are at sea today and will be in Costa Risa tomorrow. It's been a wonderful trip so far, but, as usual, we've been eating way too much. I feel a long diet coming on when we get back.

Next pics in a couple days. God bless.

Aruba & More

Okay, just few words. That last blog cost eleven dollars! Out our balcony we are watching the coast of Columbia go by. Wow! Yesterday we were in Aruba and it was pretty neat. The above and below pics are of our short communion devo we had in our room yesterday afternoon - after the Aruba stop. 13 in a small room, but it was a lot of fun.

This is Donna, my sister Becky (left) and Vickie Lipham on the beach in Aruba. Most of the time was spent shopping, but we felt like we just couldn't go to Aruba and not walk on the beach. We did A LOT of walking.

This is Donna, Becky, and me posing during our shopping/walk on the beach trip. It was a beautiful place. We are in Caragena today so I'll try to do a blog in 2 or 3 days. Maybe after the Canal trip. God bless.

First Full Day at Sea

Any time to eat! It's what we do best. We are having a blast with lots of great friends and the constant challenge to enjoy every moment to eat good food. Here we are eating lunch today in the Horizon Court Buffet. Ummm breakfast was not too long ago. Anyway, this Buffet is at the front of the ship but you can't see that out these front window. Take my word for it - it's beautiful! And did I mention it's in the 80's outside!

Don Rose and I were waiting for the computer geek to show up at the Computer Cafe so I could get hooked up to the ships wifi service. This string trio were playing down in the atrium and it was so beautiful. Have a great day! We will. These posts will be short on writing and long on pics - it's .75 cents a minute to be online. God bless.

Just Wait!

FYI for those who check this blog out regularly and wonder when the next one will appear. We leave on vacation in the morning, but since I'm now the proud owner of a lap top computer and know, I think, how to download pictures from my camera onto the computer, the plan is to do a blog every day or so about our vacation. So - stay tuned and see what happens. The first one will probably be on Friday sometime.

May God bless you with a wonderful day!

"I need to be baptized by you...!"

I'm pretty pumped! In two days we leave for our first ever vacation to a warm place in the middle of winter. The only time every year that I even remotely think about being on a sunny beach is during a long cold winter when it sounds so good. It's gonna happen, Lord willing, and for fifteen days! It's been a long time since I was so excited about traveling and taking a long vacation. I have been looking forward to this for a good while now.
The last couple of Sunday's we have been in Mark 1 looking at John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus. Talk about longing to see something - have you ever wondered how John must have felt as he looked up and saw Jesus walking toward him to be baptized? He'd spent his life preparing to be a preparer! He had a clear sense of purpose as he proclaimed that the Messiah was coming and he was preparing the way for him. He knew Jesus - they were related, and probably spent time together on many occasions during their thirty years of growing and waiting for the right time to start their ministry. To carry out his task, John lived a life of self denial and hardship. Once he began his ministry there was total commitment and focus, even to the point of disregarding food, clothing, and political pressure. He longed to see the Lamb of God step forward and begin his ministry of saving the world.
Can you imagine John standing waist deep in the river Jordan, urging people to change their lives and get ready for the coming of God's Kingdom, and then finally seeing Jesus standing on the shore, waiting his turn to be baptized by John? John knew who he was and he felt unworthy to be baptizing Jesus. He'd already said he was unworthy to tie his sandals, and now he was supposed to baptize him - the Lamb of God?
Talk about a mixture of emotions? John was filled with excitement to see all his dreams taking place. Then there is the thrill of seeing God's plan coming together, and the satisfaction of knowing he had done his job. But there is also the humility of knowing he must decrease.
The joy of seeing Jesus changes how you look at everything. One of these days Jesus will be meeting us at the river Jordan - the one we have to cross to be with him. I hope we will all be as excited to see him as John was.
Now that's a trip truly worth looking forward to!

Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta...

Okay, my church family won't even see this until tomorrow, so don't tell anyone that I gave my blog readers a sneak peak. This is the logo for this year's Bible Action Musical. The story of Esther is really much more complicated and multifaceted than most of us think it is. That makes writing a play/musical about it very difficult. Lot's of scene changes, which is a killer for stages without curtains or a real backstage. Still, I finished the script just before Christmas and the music has been picked out since the Fall, and I really feel good about it. I think it will be the best musical yet. It's number five for Florissant, and it will be a fun experience for all of us who put it on and everyone who sees it. There are a lot of new things in terms of format and casting, and it has the highest number of songs of any play we've done (24). We have my usual mixture of Oldies R&R, Broadway tunes, and Praise songs. I had a lot of fun writing all new lyrics for all the Broadway tunes and most of the Oldies songs. It has some of the funniest use of songs that we've ever had. It will be fast moving and extremely entertaining, but still tell a very moving story about a simple Hebrew girl becoming queen of Persia. We've got a HUGE critter that will appear, but no official narrators! Told you it was different.
I'm introducing it tomorrow morning after our assembly time, we will accept applications to be in the cast until Feb.7th, casting will be done by Feb.14th, and our first read through will be on the 21st. Our rehearsals start March 3rd and we have three months to pull it all together.
Love to have you here! As always, it's the first full weekend in June. Four shows: Thursday the 3rd through Sunday the 6th.
Isn't that logo cool? I can't wait to order our T-shirts!

My Personal Paul

I like Paul. That may sound weird to some, because aren't we all suppose to like the great missionary apostle who wrote most of the epistles in the New Testament? Yes, of course, but it took me a long time to personally like Paul. Respect, admire, and diligently study? Absolutely, but I had a hard time really identifying with him as a real person - a struggling saint like the rest of us, because after all, he was the ultimate teacher, the super apostle, the mega-Christian whose feet didn't really touch earth - he just floated a couple of feet off the ground. He was INSPIRED! He was the source of most theological exegesis, discussion, and debate! He was the Man-With-The-Plan and what he said was Gospel! It didn't help that for a long time I didn't fully understand many of the things he wrote about. Hey - some of my favorite professors and mentors couldn't agree on what Paul was saying, who am I to think I have him figured out?
Like I said at the beginning, I like Paul. It took a lot of digging and meditating on his personal letters to churches and co-workers to truly, and finally, see the man, but now I do. I had to quit shredding his flow of thought while looking for proof-texts and patterns. I had to stop thinking of his writings as his input into the Bible. I also had to force myself to cease my relentless pursuit of his work looking for all the "do's & don't's" of self-righteousness and legalism, which I had been trained to look for. Once I started seeing a real man of God, with weaknesses, struggles, and faults of his own, who wasn't holding himself up as the "ultimate," the most dynamic, or even the top anything. He was driven by only one thing, telling people that Jesus was the Son of God and He rose up from the dead to prove it! When you stop reading his letters like they were theological treatises and start seeing his passion for the Gospel and his love for his brethren, they become beautiful shared gifts, full of the spirit of Christ. I don't skim through those closing verses with names, requests, and challenges any more. They show us how personal his letters were as he shares his victories, struggles, and plans. In turn, that helps me see his pleading, pointing, and pushing in the rest of his letter as shared love not laying down the law. It's impossible to understand 1 & 2 Timothy if you don't sense his concern for Timothy and the predicament his young son in the faith was in. Corinth would have been written up and written off by every church in the brotherhood today, but Paul lovingly guided and challenged them to stay focused on Jesus. No other author of scripture shared a list of physical, emotional, and spiritual struggles like Paul did in 2 Corinthians 11, and then in the next breath confessed to a "thorn in the flesh" to keep him humble and trusting in God.
Yes, I like him, and I feel like I'm finally starting to "get" what he was writing about in his letters. I can't wait to talk to him face to face or spirit to spirit.

If You Really Want It...

I know everyone is not intrigued by what happens behind our house, but I knew the family would get a kick out of seeing this picture from yesterday afternoon. I had a picture of the kids playing hockey last week, but I thought this says a lot about their dedication and determination to play. Before they could play, they had to shovel off about four inches of snow on the ice. Their shovels are hard to see, but they're laying in the snow just behind their goal. That was a lot of shoveling. I couldn't get all of their homemade rink in the picture. I thought it was neat that they even brought along chairs, snacks, and spectators. It was about 25 degrees yesterday afternoon. Hey - that's a heat wave compared to the last week. There's a lesson there somewhere about if you want to do something badly enough - you'll find a way to make it happen.
That reminds me - this is the last week of bow season...

I had to laugh at a short report on one of the national TV news programs talking about "Are there hidden meanings behind Avatar?" Duh. Maybe double Duh! What made me laugh was the discussion about the "hidden meaning" of capitalism vs. ecology. I guess maybe it's easier to talk about philosophies than history, but anyone with even a trace understanding of American History could see the parallel between Avatar's plot and the sad fate of the American Indians. I think any college or even graduate class in the world could show Avatar and use it to explain "Western Expansion," "Manifest Destiny," or Turner's "Frontier". In a nutshell, "You've got it. We want it. Make a deal or die!" That pretty much sums up our dealing with the original Americans and the victims of "capitalism" in Avatar. From details, like bows & arrows and loin cloths, to non-traditional spiritualism, and a different skin color, just to name a few, it was the story of our story from Plymouth to Wounded Knee. The big difference is that we had little problem cheering for the defeat of corporate mercenary Marines, but we wouldn't dare think of Custer or Sherman in the same light.

Setting the history lesson aside, Avatar is an amazing movie. It has the same visual grabbing power, maybe more, as when I saw Star Wars the first time, then a Jurassic Park, and more recently, Lord of the Rings. You are lifted into another world that is so spectacularly interesting, with new vegetation, new bugs, new animals, new people, new language, and new culture, that it become the fastest two and a half hours you've ever spent. Yes, its got violence, but it's not really very gory, just lots of explosions and noises, and yes, I wish they'd left off the vulgar words - though I know some Marines use it. It's an experience, a real escape, and it involves you in a story that feels real - and after all, isn't that what you go to the movies for? Oh yeah, ladies, it really does include a love story. I guess it's true - love is blue.

2010 Wish List

Even though a lot of my church family reads this blog, I wanted to share with everyone else the main points from my lesson last Sunday. I decided to do an end-of-the-year-look-at-the-coming-year-lesson before beginning a new series on the Gospel of Mark. I'd love to have the time and space to elaborate on each one, but if you read my blog regularly, you've seen most of this in writing already.
My Wish List for 2010:
1. I wish every member would seriously reflect on our Purpose as a church. It is what drives us and what every member needs to own. "We exist to help people develop a deeper relationship with Jesus."
2. I wish every member would honestly evaluate where they are spiritually and where they need to go. Our steps to carry out our purpose are simply the steps in building a relationship with others and with God. Connecting - Caring - Committing! Where are you?
3. I wish every one of us would start thinking relationships not church! The cultural church of today is not the church of the Bible. Body & Family = relationships = the purpose of church!
4. I wish all of us would start thinking tools not rituals! Tools are to use not to worship, and God gave us tools to help us help one another grow spiritually, not so we'd have rituals to perform.
5. I wish all of us would stretch our understanding of what God really wants! He wants loving seekers not arrogant truth holders. (read Acts 17:27-28 for clarity)
6. I wish all of us would help someone else grow! It's still the best way to grow. One another stuff is not just about self!
7. I wish all of us would really become witnesses for Him! See the opportunities to be Christ-like and to share your story.
8. I wish we all could let go of this world a little more. It's a process we must start - it's inevitable!
9. I wish we all would lose our fear of family responsibilities! Reason for detachment and lack of involvement. "Love casts out fear."
10. I wish that when we form a huge circle in heaven and sing praises to God - you're there!

More Random Christmas Pictures

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Our computer is unplugged and soon to be picked up for repairs, so I've hooked everything up to my laptop computer - and WOW what a difference a new computer makes. I'd forgotten what FAST really was like. I downloaded these pics in seconds and every thing pops up immediately. Is that really how computers are supposed to work? I got a cordless mouse for it too, and it's soooo nice. Wow - I could get spoiled to this! I might even do more blogs if it's this easy to do it! Anyway - here are a few of my pictures from Christmas that aren't on the girls blogs.

Daniel getting a little help from Dad to open one of his presents. Curtis is anxiously waiting!

And here is one of Caden's first presents. I think the hand is more appealing right now!

This is the "Dad gift" for Chad and Elizabeth. It's a painting customized with their names carved on the tree. I knew they'd enjoy the deer too.

This was Pat and Deborah's "Dad gift" and theirs was a couple of bears snoozing on a limb with their names carved on the tree. Jonathan and Holly's picture was a beach with a hammock and beach stuff around and their names written in the sand. Sorry no pictures of that one.

Finally, a picture a took a few minutes ago out our back door. It's been single digit temps here for several days now. The thermometer on the beam says thirty, but it's in the sun. It's only 13 outside. It didn't take'em long to get a hockey game going. I heard the "thwack" of the puck being hit before I knew they were out there. There is no temperature break forecast for the next ten days. I guess is really is winter. Hmmm - a nice vacation to a warm climate sounds really good right now. I know! How about a cruise to the Panama Canal? Like in two weeks! I knew it was a good idea!

Look Who's Talking!

One of the ironies of living with all the technology that we've become addicted to in the last ten years is, with all the communication that is happening on a 24/7 basis, the quality of relationships doesn't seem to be getting any better. Everyone is walking around or driving their cars with a cell phone held or attached to their ear. Many people, young and old, are so busy texting that they never look up. And then there is all the different kinds of online communicating from emails to Twittering, Skype, etc., etc. There has never been a generation that has ever lived that had the means to stay in touch as much as we do today. We SHOULD be having the closest marriages, families, friendships, and work place communication the world has ever seen. There should be less misunderstanding, miscommunicating, and speculating then at any time since there were more than two people on earth. But, to coin a phrase, "It ain't happening!" Why? Two things I've been saying for may years are 1) there is no relationship without communication, and 2) if you don't communicate you speculate. They are absolutely true, but they simply point out that communication is a tool for relationships not a guarantee of relationship building. There is another "c" that must be part of the equation or the communication is just something we use to "feel" in touch, or appear to be "needed," or to boost our ego. There is no relationship building without commitment and that commitment must be to building a relationship rather than just maintaining it.
Just think about it. If access to communication was the secret to a deeper relationship, everyone would have a deep relationship with God. He's always present and accessible, but not always sought. Communication without some level of commitment is just self-serving and noisy. When driven by commitment it's sharing, giving, and building at it's best.
"Speak Lord, your servant is listening."

Transcendental Consideration

There are things that are spiritually and theologically transcendent or superior to all other things. We all know, for instance, that love transcends all other spiritual goals. Jesus Himself call loving one another the greatest command, and God, from the very beginning, declared that loving Him, others, and self were inseparable and transcendent to all else. Love is both the goal and the key to a relationship with our heavenly Father. It's only to the extent that we know love that we know God because God is love.
Something else that transcends everything else is faith. "Without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Heb.11:6) When you couple that with Ephesians 2:8, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith..." and it's clear that nothing happens in our relationship with God without faith. You can repent all you want, confess until your hoarse, and be baptized until you look like a prune, but if there isn't faith - it means nothing.
There may be something that even transcends faith and love. If the "want to" isn't there - if there is no desire to have a relationship with God - can there be faith and love? God calls it "seeking". Did you notice that pleasing faith is defined as "earnestly seek him"? An incredibly well-known verse hit me between the ears big-time the other day. In Paul's sermon on Mars Hill, in Acts 17, he introduced to the crowd "The God who made the world and everything in it" and pointed out that there is nothing that He needs from man - in terms of temples and altars. He, God, did it all! And why did He do it? What is He looking for? "God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.'" (vs.27-28)
Paul was telling this group of philosophers and thinkers that the first and foremost thing that God is interested in and looking for - the thing that transcends all other commands, demands, and requirements - is a heart that is seeking Him! The recognition of God existence, the awareness of His presence, and the seeking of a relationship with Him - MAKES GOD HAPPY!
If God is happy with a heart that is seeking Him - are you willing to put limits on how He chooses to give His love and grace? I just hope He's happy with me.

Christmas Eve Gifts

These are in reverse order, but it gives you a good idea of how our Christmas gift exchange went. It begins with dinner and then a total clean-up of the kitchen before anything starts. Then the kids, with the help of Nana and Pat, deliver the gifts to the appropriate persons and their chosen spot. We actually did the gift exchange with the kids first, then we went to the Christmas Eve Devo at the church building, and after we returned and put the kids to bed, all the adults had some prayer time before we exchanged our gifts. Both sections of the giving part took a long time because we do it one gift at a time, from youngest to oldest, so we all get to enjoy each gift. It was a lot of fun, as usual, and, as usual, we are all blessed far beyond what we deserve. On Christmas day, we got to use our new online video camera to talk with Jonathan and Holly for a while. It was almost like having them here.

I hope your Christmas was full of family fun and memories.

Promised Pictures

As per the last blog, my son-in-law Chad got our computer working better so that I could finally download some pictures. Yesterday we all went shopping at the Mall and had lunch together at Chevy's, a Mexican Restaurant. Unfortunately, Donna took the picture so she's not in it. This is the whole group, or at least parts of everyone in the whole group. It's hard to get that many people all looking at the camera at the same time.

This is our tree before the Big Opening this evening. Donna's gift from me was too big to keep in the box. That's her glider with the gold bow. Her gift to me was a large, rolling tool box that was also too big to be in a box or under the tree. It's in the garage waiting to be filled up with my tools.

Donna was very happy to try out her new gift. We're getting old and boring I guess. We both got gifts for each other that were very practical and we both had the other one help us pick them out. No big surprises, but we are both happy with what we gave and received. We can't wait to see how the kids all enjoy their gifts. God is good.

I'll post some more pictures of our Christmas in a day or two. Hope your Christmas time is wonderful.

Family & Food - Oh Yeah!

We have been incredibly busy enjoying family time with all seven of our grand children, our kids and spouses, and having Donna's mom with us. We really miss Jonathan and Holly, of course. One of these days we will ALL be here for a Christmas together. It's been five years since the last one. If I could spell all the words right, I'd love to write up a copy of the menu Donna has been preparing. Awesome food and too much eating, but hey, it's what we do best. My crazy computer isn't letting me down-load pictures right now, and that's another reason why I haven't had a new post, but I will try to get some pics on here as soon as it will let me. It's amazing how much these things run us!
In case I don't get to say later or your not blogging later - MERRY CHRISTMAS. I hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends. God bless.

Working Nine-to-Five?

Being a couple weeks away from our fifth anniversary at Florissant, I've been reflecting on several things that make our ministry here so special. While it's a long way from being at the top of the list, one of the things I truly appreciate is not being defined AT ALL by an office. I love my office, and I love the people I get to work with. They are the greatest servants of God I've ever had the privilege of being in partnership with as we all try to do what God called us to do. Hey, I'm the Office Administrator and Staff Coordinator! I'm all about having an efficient, productive, supportive, and purpose driven office and ministry team, but - my job is not an office job it's a people job - it's a serve God wherever - whenever - 24/7 life! One of the saddest, most narrow minded, and worldly ways to limit, and even destroy a servant ministry, is to expect a highly trained, highly motivated, and adequately paid minister of the Gospel to sit in a church office just in case someone walks in and wants to talk to "the preacher." How can you expect someone to be available 24/7 and still require 9 to 5 office hours? I've already made the point that I'm not anti-office, I'm very pro-office, but it's a tool to use not the focus of the job. Office oriented thinking destroys creativity, sets artificial boundaries for productivity, and turns ministry into administrative paper-work rather than people work.
Sure, full-time ministry is a job where an unethical person can learn how to be seen, be heard, and be lazy the rest of the time, but that will be easily revealed over time. I never leave work - PERIOD! I never stop thinking, reviewing, taking notes, writing down ideas, and looking for ways to help people have a deeper relationship with Jesus. That's not bragging, that's my life. I don't sit in a tree stand hunting without working on ideas and plans for the future. I don't go on vacation without spending time studying, praying, and thinking about ways to be a better servant of God. Again, that's not bragging because I'm not saying I'm good at it. I'm just saying my job and my life are the same thing, and, Praise the Lord, I have a car, a home, an office, a cell phone, a laptop, and plenty of pens and notebooks in my tool box to help me do my job.
I am so thankful to be with a church family and to have shepherds who respect that. I still manage to put in from thirty to sixty hours in the office, depending on the need that week, but it's only part of what I do and where I do it. Preachers and elders - I wouldn't accept a ministry with a church that required set office hours. If you can't trust your minister to be about God's business you better not hire him.

A Special Night Out

This is where I took Donna last night for our 37th Wedding anniversary. We went to the one in Nashville many years ago and really enjoyed it, so when she mentioned something about wanting to go again, about a month ago, I filed it away and set up the surprise dinner last week. This one is in University City and is really nice inside.

I ordered a dozen roses for Donna to be sitting on the table when we arrived. It was a nice special touch for a special evening. After the "settling in" picture, we moved the roses off the table and proceeded to over-indulge. Hey, that's as good a way to celebrate 37 years as any, and it certainly isn't out of character for us. As per-usual for the Root family, while we ate, we talked about the potential menu for when all the family gets here next week. Doesn't everybody talk about the next meal while enjoying the one before them?

This is the third course of our meal - the main course - MEAT! We had all kinds of dips, batters, and seasonings to use on the steak, lobster, chicken, veggies, etc. that we cooked ourselves in the fondue pot. Awesome - and totally fat free and calorie free - I think.

The final course was a Chocolate, caramel, pecan mix to dip our fruits, cakes, and other sweet goodies in. I thought I was beyond another bite after the main course, but we found our "second wind" and devoured pretty much all the dessert.
I completely forgot that I had to give blood for a lab test this morning. While I obeyed the rule to not eat after midnight last night, I have a feeling that my stomach was still full when they stuck me at 8:00 this morning. Oh well, I'm already taking pills for that. What good are they if I can't enjoy a 37th anniversary dinner with the one who still owns my heart.

Christmas Musical 2009

Here are some pictures from last night's Children's Christmas Musical. It was cute to the bone! Donna and her helpers did a wonderful job of putting it all together. It was the result of several months of preparation, rehearsals, and loads of patience. These are not the best of pictures since I took them from the back of the auditorium so I wouldn't distract the kids, and it didn't help that our Kodak file has got something wrong with it and it won't let us work with any pictures. The above picture is the Pre-school group who sang a few songs to start off the program.

They sang some really cute songs and did some serious teaching about Jesus and why He came to earth. It was a good program and I heard a lot of "Amens" to the lines the kids were saying.

This is Donna's closing comments and announcements. She's the best!

This is two of our shepherds (Matt & Stan) giving "high fives" to all the kids as they exited the auditorium to "thunderous applause."

Merry Christmas - there I said it!

There is nothing like Christmas. No other holiday, no other time of the year, has the same intensity, passion, cultural and economic impact, and the same extreme polarities of contradictions. While it's the "most wonderful time of the year" for most people, for many it's the most stressful, depressing, and anxious month to get through of the entire year. It's a time of joy, singing, shopping, and giving, but it's also a time that amplifies for many, their losses, their broken relationships, and their loneliness. It's full of contradictions, but then it's driven by human beings who are full of contradictions. "Peace on earth and good will toward men" doesn't seem to be on the minds of uptight shoppers, dragging screaming kids through Target, complaining about long lines, and taking it out on the check-out clerk. Still, for most people, you can see a clear sense of having fun, being happy, and enjoying family. For most, it truly is a wonderful season of giving.
There's probably no place where there is more neurosis about Christmas than at church. I remember the first time I heard that there were members of the church who didn't celebrate Christmas because it was "a man made holiday, and Jesus really wasn't born on Dec.25th." I was dumbfounded and responded with the deeply theological rebuttal of "So what!" Because of the few, and our pattern driven legalistic heritage, we've always felt that we had to "keep separated" from what the world (and the other 99% of the congregation) was doing. Decorations, Christmas songs, and even saying "Merry Christmas" was something we had to use and do carefully and diplomatically. Sorry, but I find it humorous and ironic, that so many in the church are screaming about the anti-Christmas-be politically correct-call it something neutral trend that is threatening our social traditions.
I've said it many times, but I am thrilled that so many people all over the world are going to be spending a little bit of time thinking about Jesus and why God sent Him to this world. No, it's not everybody, yes - it's too commercialized, and yes - the story isn't told right, the date is wrong, and not everyone is feeling "Joy to the world." I'm still thankful for those who think about Him, sing about Him, pray to Him, and praise God for His birth. Even with the stress, the commercializing, and the church Grinch's, with all this attention and love being shown to the Son of God and thanking God for sending Him, how can it not make God smile?

The Redneck Christmas Float

I love this. It made the rounds of emails last year, but my insurance agent sent it to me again this year, so I thought I would share it. The caption said, The Redneck Christmas Float! Frankly, I can't imagine someone 1) putting that much work into something so off-the-wall (there is a pun there), and 2) I can't imagine anyone putting all their trophy heads in such danger. But hey, at least the caption didn't read "See what happens to eight little reindeer who landed on the wrong roof!" Yes, I know these aren't reindeer, but most people don't know the difference.
Why do I have the feeling that this was in West Virginia?
And putting a red nose on a nice buck? Well, that's just wrong.

Life's Ripples

I have been thinking a lot lately about the ripple effect of our actions. In my Wednesday evening class we've been studying 2 Corinthians, and I was really struck for the first time with how he tries to impress on them (and us) that the completion of their commitment to financially help the brethren in Jerusalem is going to cause others to be thankful, to rejoice, and to give sacrificially themselves. He wanted them to know about the ripple effect of their actions. He used the ripple effect of the Macedonian's selfless giving to encourage the Corinthians. You just never know how something you do or say will impact others. In fact, we will never know about the vast majority of those impacts. I mentioned Sunday that we've all been impacted by a teacher or two, who literally changed our lives. You can easily name a couple of teachers who lit a fire of interest in a subject or changed the direction you were going. Here's the question: Do they know it? And if they don't know about the impact they had on you, how many others are there whose lives were changed that the teacher has no idea about? We know that's true! Why then do we tend to minimize the power of teaching? Why do we have to twist arms to recruit teachers for any of our Bible classes? Have we been judging success and the worthiness of our efforts by the wrong standards? Isn't it up to God to "give the increase"?
And teaching is just one example of life's ripple effect. I've received many emails, calls, and letters from total strangers thanking me for a blog, a book, or a lesson that I did that touched them and made a difference. And how many people who have enjoyed the same "ripple" just didn't let me know about it? That's fine - it just amplifies the reality of life's ripples going out in all directions and the impossibility of seeing how they splash on the shoreline of other peoples lives.
You know what is really neat? I mean REALLY amazing? God sees every wave and every splash! We're not sailing through life on concrete! Everything we do and say, has a ripple effect that needs to roll from us to the glory of God.

Chew With Your Mouth Closed, Please!

I love the word "pithy". I don't know why, but it's been a favorite word to know and use since I was in High School. I don't know if it's because it sounds like something an incontinent lisper would say (and do) or because it's just a fun word to say, but I've always enjoyed dropping it in conversation every now and then. Sometimes, when I use it, people look at me like I'm the one with a speech impediment. It doesn't sound like a "manly" word, which is interesting since its ROOT word means strength and vigor. Maybe that's because it rhymes with sissy and that it's easy to say in an effeminate way. But I digress - as usual. I just wanted to share a couple of pithy statements that I've been chewing on for the last few days. I don't want to elaborate on them, but just let you chew on them awhile - if you want to.
The first one is a variation of something I've written about before: Your level of joy in life is determined by your level of thoughtfulness. I dare you to chew on that for a week and see what happens.
The second one is not worded as well as I'd like it to be, but you'll get the point. There is nothing that God asks us to do, whether it's an act or a belief, that is not part of His plan to help us grow in love.
Here is the first draft of that same statement. Maybe it will elicit a greater desire to chew. If in your obedience to God you don't see the connection between the act and loving God, you've misunderstood the reason for doing it.
Go your way and chew!

A New Tradition?

I love traditions. That may be a shock to those who think I'm one of the iconoclastic preachers of my generation. I still remember how surprised I was to see an editorial comment printed on the back cover of my book Spilt Grape Juice, that declared, "The road to hell is paved with good traditions." It was removed in later editions, but at the time, I thought, "Wow! I'd never say anything like that!" While I agree with it, and while it is - has been - and aways will be wrong to elevate any tradition of man to equality with God's will, I know that God is more interested in the condition of the heart than He is with the practices and performances we create. What has always amazed me is not the fact that we have routines and rituals what make us feel comfortable and secure, but that many Christians are totally oblivious to the fact that much of what we do, especially in our assembly oriented believe system, comes from early American church traditions and from Catholicism. Somehow it makes it all different if we can call it "following the New Testament pattern," even if we care little about doing that honestly.
No, I love traditions. I love family traditions. The whole time I was building my back porch I had visions of sitting out there with my family, watching God's creation, enjoying the peace and quiet, and building some great memories and traditions. And I love church family traditions, like trying to get four hundred plus people to form a circle after a baptism so we can welcome a new brother or sister into the family with song, prayer, and family support. I love all the little things we do as a church family that makes us closer, more loving, and yes, different.
That is why I regularly remind us all of one of my favorite sayings. It came to me several years ago, and has helped me tremendously to know the difference between godly and ungodly traditions.
Traditions are for bonding not binding.
That'll preach!

Take Off the Sunglasses!

I have always known that thankfulness was important, but about ten years ago it finally dawned on me how much it is the foundation - the secret ingredient - for everything that matters in life. As I have mentioned in past blogs, we can only rise spiritually to the level of our thankfulness. It is the anchor upon which every other spiritual quality rests. It is the root system from which all other gifts, graces, and godly character grows. It is the secret to happiness, the glue for relationships, and the antidote to fear. Thankfulness is the lens through which we see God, the reason why we talk to God, and the source of our love for God. A truly thankful spirit will see God's love and grace as the ultimate gift that overshadows any hardship, hurt, or heartache this world can throw at us. Thankfulness causes us to appreciate what we have, while we have it, and prevents us from focusing on what we don't have or what we will surely lose. It is the only thing that will allow us to face death, whether it's ours or a loved one, with a spirit of "Thank you Lord for what I've had," instead of "Why me Lord?" Every day is a precious gift to be thankful for, but it is a gift to be spent drawing closer to God. Being thankful for every day and every opportunity to know Him better, helps us see life as a short journey to our real home.
Thankfulness is something we can choose to develop. We CAN make it happen! The truth is, until we start doing that, life will remain an unsatisfying, self-centered, unhappy, and fearful trip. Choosing to be thankful is like taking your sunglasses off while in the house. Life is never dark when we walk in the light of God's goodness and grace.
Have you taken your sunglasses off yet?

Quick Trip to TN

(From our trip to NY last month)

We went straight from last Sunday morning's assembly and drove to Nashville so we could be there for a good friend's surprise sixtieth birthday party. Because of the five and a half hour drive, we got there a little late, but that allowed us to make a "grand entrance" and truly be a surprise to our special friend Kathy Rose. Don and Kathy Rose have been wonderful friends for well over a decade now. They have gone with us on most of our "big vacation trips" and are one of the original members of the small group we were part of in Nashville for six and a half years. That group still meets every Sunday evening, and we got to see all of them again at Kathy's party and then join them for a Bible study after. It was really wonderful to see everyone. It was great to be reminded about what a blessing it is to have good friends. Our warmest memories of our nearly seven years in Nashville come from time spent with that group of brothers and sisters. We've been gone from there for almost five years now (as of 12/31/09), but we still manage to see one another a couple times each year. They all helped me surprise Donna by showing up at Disney World for our thirty-fifth anniversary - two years ago - and making it an anniversary that neither one of us will ever forget. They have also given us a special surprise gift by showing up for our musical the last couple of years.

So, if you were wondering why I haven't done a blog the last few days, that's the reason. We got to spend a day with all of our family too (everyone except Jonathan and Holly of course) on Monday, and we got back to MO yesterday at noon. If there was ever a reason to skip blogging, the best one will always be seeing family and friends.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY! Wow - I didn't realize you were THAT much older than me!

Step By Step?

When I showed this picture last month, I mentioned that I was waiting for - what I thought would be - our final inspection. No such luck! Take a close look at my steps. I was so proud of them that really couldn't wait for the inspector to see what a wonderful job my helper Steve and I did. They are nine and a half feet long with extra 2x10 bracing on the front. There is NO spring in those steps. They are put together with a ton of three inch screws and 16 penny nails. I had visions of our grand children sitting and playing on those steps, so I purposely went the second mile to make them secure. We meticulously followed the county codes for minimum heights and maximum depth for each step. It was a no brainer. Twenty-three inches high - three steps - the easiest thing to do was have two eight inch steps and one seven inch step. There was nothing in the code that said you couldn't do that! The inspector, however, immediately pointed out that there can't be one step that is one inch smaller than the others. He said it was unsafe and they would have to be redone. REDONE? He said it like it was no big deal instead of the half day major job that it would be to dismantle and rebuild! And when we redo the steps, that one "illegal" step will be five eights of an inch bigger! Five-eighths of an inch? I've gone up and down them with my eyes closed and I can't tell the difference one inch makes. And you can't argue with them or they may, all of a sudden, fine several other things that aren't up to code. I wanted to point out that nothing in the code says they have to be totally equal steps, that it really was a lot of work, and hey - it's a BACK PORCH that our grand kids will jump off of far more than go up and down the steps, but I bit my tongue and tried not to look too disappointed. I have to confess, since then, I've have wondered how badly I need a permit. I know plenty of people who finish basements and build porches with out it - but then there's that Disclosure Statement when you sell the house - I'm not going to lie, so the county would get us then. Besides, I just want to do it right! Oh well, I guess I'll redo it - one step at a time - there's a song there somewhere!
I have done a lot of thinking about this over the month since we failed our inspection. I'm thankful that God's will is a clear covenant of love and not a code to check off. I'm glad that when I miss the mark with Him, I know it immediately and don't need to plead ignorance. I'm glad that He is a Father who let's me redo things that really do need redoing. I am really thankful that He is a Father I can talk to, and not an inspector to JUST salute and obey. Most of all, I'm thankful for His grace because there have been a lot of things in my life that have failed His Holy Spirit's inspection - and I didn't have to schedule it and some ONE else paid for the permit.

Caring Is Loving!

Last Sunday I introduced our plans to have a new kind of class as part of our Adult Sunday morning Bible class program. We're calling them Caring Classes because; 1) they come from our need to be driven by our Purpose and our Steps (Connecting, Caring, & Committing), and 2) because "Caring" for one another describes the goal of the class. There will just be two pilot classes to begin with, so that those who feel that they benefit more from the traditional 45 minute lecture class can still attend one of those if they want to. The Caring Classes will focus on building spiritual relationships, growing in love for one another, and meeting the needs of one another. I'm sure there are a few who don't want that, just like there have been many who clearly don't want the traditional approach to Bible classes, and they show it by not attending. I don't really know if this will impact that or not, but frankly, that is beside the point. How did we ever let things get to the point where we have to convince brethren that learning to love one another is more important than gathering more biblical information. That same Bible that we love to think we know so well, tells us that "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." The Lord of that Bible is the One who declared that the world would know we belong to Him, "if we love one another." It seems to me that Satan got a lot of mileage out of convincing us that learning is more important than loving. Where is the track record of success? Where are the signs of spiritual growth as we continue to do what we've always done? Why is fellowship and relationship building, which was the purpose of the New Testament get-togethers, demeaned as "socializing" and extra-curricular activities for churches?
What a wild idea to suggest that we could use a one hour Sunday morning time slot for something that builds deeper spiritual relationships instead of letting that same hour define our time spent in God's Word. Could loving others cause some people to spent more time studying God's Word on their own, or with some close friends - outside of the "formal Sunday morning Bible Class"? What might happen if we actually cared about one another's hurts, struggles, concerns, and victories enough to talk, pray, and share with one another?
It seems to me that we not only need Caring Bible classes, but Caring assemblies, Caring small groups, Caring ministries, Caring special events, and so on. Caring is loving. We are only like God to the extent that we learn how to love. Doesn't that sound like why He put the church here in the first place?

Monday, Monday...

It's Monday morning, my day off, and the deer are probably at the peak of rut, which means that huge bucks are running around the woods wild-eyed and careless (like another species we all know), but, it's pouring down rain. I know, if I was like the dedicated hunters who do the hunting shows on TV, I'd be out there hunting with my rain suit, boots, tree stand umbrella, and the other expensive gear I own. It's not that I'm a weather wimp. It's more a matter of coming to grips with my REAL level of love for chasing the ever elusive big bucks. I enjoy bow hunting for whitetail deer, but mostly I just enjoy quiet time in the woods. I love watching God's creation happening in front of my eyes. It's a hoot to see any animals doing their thing in the woods and know they don't know I'm there. Squirrels are so funny to watch. There is nothing like seeing the look on the face of a squirrel when they coming running down the branch of the tree you're in and they come to a screeching hault two feet away as they notice the huge camouflaged blob in their tree. You can almost here their little brains saying, "What in the world are you doing in my tree!"
My point is, yes - I love hunting, but I do have limits on what I am willing to put up with to do it. After thirty-plus years of doing it, I know when it's fun and when it's not. I've hunted plenty of times in the pouring rain - I did that once last month, and I've hunting in the snow, the hard winds, and the bitter cold. Actually, of all the bad weather scenarios that one could hunt in, you actually have a better chance of seeing some good deer when it's raining than in any other. They move around all day when it's raining because they feel safer in it and it's not so comfortable to sleep a long time in a wet bed. Still, my personal rule is, "Why do it if it stops being fun?" I'm not so driven to get a deer that I'm willing to pay the price of being miserable. Call me crazy, undedicated, or just too practical, or whatever you want. I'm old enough and secure enough in my thinking to not have to prove myself to anyone as "The Great White Hunter." It's something I do for me, because I like it, and because it's not a competitive sport or a symbol of manhood - at least for me.
You know what's nice? Looking out of the window at the back of our house and seeing our beautiful and dry porch, and watching the rain pelting the pond and - well - having no place in particular that I have to be. God is good!
And yet, it might be nice to be in my tree stand this afternoon...

Four Hundred Blogs!

When I started this blog, 3 or 4 years ago now, my biggest fear was that I'd lose interest and just let it die. It's hard to believe that this is my four hundredth blog. Wow! And every time I start wondering if anyone sees it, I hear from someone at church, on the phone, or from thousands of miles away about how much they enjoy reading my blog. I have no idea how many people check it. I've been tempted to put a counter on it, but after this long I'd always wonder how many have clicked on it in the past. I don't need to know. I enjoy doing this, most of the time, if for nothing else than knowing that my family checks it and gets to hear about what is going on in our life here in St. Louis, and what's going on in my radical brain. I try to do a mixture of both kinds of blogs. So, to celebrate my blog #400, I thought I throw out what I think is an interesting question - at least for all the other preacher-types who check my blog.
What are preachers paranoid about? Here are some of my ideas.
* Repeating an incredible joke or illustration to an audience that just yawns!
* Unzipped pants
* Spiting on the front row
* Having the totally wrong scripture in your notes
* Getting into a compound-complex sentence and forgetting the subject-verb relationship
* Questions about "the end of time"
* Being totally wrong about historical facts in an illustration
* Having an elder (s) who is control freak
* Members who think they could do a better job of preaching than you
* Everyone expecting you to remember their name
* Weird casseroles at members dinner parties!
* Quiet, standoffish people who expect attention
* Communion presiders who want to be preachers
* Saying "Crap" when you meant to say "Trap" (Been there...)
* Being defined by an office rather than a ministry
* Slipping in the baptistery (counts as two)
* Forgetting the word "subject" while trying to offer the invitation
* Questions about circumcision (w/o Power Point)
* Personally thinking of my lesson as "just another sermon"
* Quenching the Holy Spirit!
* Thinking I really know what that means!

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?