Who Loves Ya Baby?

Last Sunday I was dealing with the reason I believe God loves me. What would you say if you were asked that as a question? Certainly John 3:16 gives us all the answers we need, but what is so simple is also amazingly complex. For this lesson I defined love a little differently than I have in the past, especially since I was talking about being loved. After working through some possibilities from others, I said, "You know you are loved when someone wants what is good for you. The bottom line? Love is honest unselfishness." No one does it better than God.
It seems to me that God's love for us is seen in three somewhat synonymous, mostly overlapping, and yet distinctive characteristic. I know God loves me because I know God's goodness, God's giving, and God's grace. Again, they are inseparable and, depending on what you are looking at, separate as each tell us something different about God's love.
God's goodness is his holiness. He always wants what is best for us, and that means he is good even when good things, from our perspective, don't happen to us. He is interested in our character not our comfort, and the truth is, our faith grows the most during times of trials and suffering. It all depends on our ability to have his spiritual perspective on life. (2 Cor.5:1-10 & James 1:2-4) The most difficult part of understanding God's goodness is understanding how a good God can allow pain and suffering. It's the most often heard argument from those who doubt. I compared God to a parent who lets their child join the basketball team even though there will be mistakes, failures, losses, benchings, and potential injury. How could you do something like that to one you love so much? You know why.
God's giving is part of his goodness, (i.e Jn.3:16) but love is also a matter of what you don't give. Why hasn't God made me rich? He has, it's just a matter of who you want to compare yourself to. Even if it's not what you think it should be, why would God give you something that Jesus said would make it so much harder for you to enter the Kingdom of God? He is interested in our spiritual growth not our material ownership. Sometimes a loving God loves us so much that He has to say no to what we think we need. Hey - remember what he had to say to his only Son when he asked, "Let this cup pass from me."
His grace is his giving from his goodness, but there is nothing like it. Grace is God's love applied to my sinfulness. It is a holy God making a way for an unholy person to be declared holy. We keep wanting to limit it and qualify it, as we seek to judge who gets it and when it's applied, but his grace is greater than our arrogance. All other doctrines rest on it, (see Romans 5:1-5) and it is given in spite of us, not because of us (see Eph.2:1-10). Once we begin to grasp what it is and does for us, it becomes our power to deal with life. (see 2 Cor.12:7-10) Not only is it all we need, it means he dearly loves me.
God is so good!

Holy Sarcasm?

I have to confess that I struggle constantly with what constitutes appropriate sarcasm. I have always used sarcasm as a way to express humor, but also as a way to voice opinions and judgements in a way that is socially less offensive than the usual criticisms and personal digs that are clearly confrontational and hurtful. Several years ago it dawned on me that most sarcasm is just sugar coated negativity and semantically batter dipped barbs that, while witty and often cute, would never come from the lips of Jesus. Yes, I know that sarcasm has a place. It can emphasize a point, capture attentions, and cause a smile, but often it's a license to kill spirits, ridicule accomplishments, and vent poisonous gas from selfish gray matter. It is one of those things that you have to ask yourself why you are using it. Is it really the best way to show how quick and witty you are? Is it grabbing for attention at the cost of wounding others? Is it building up or tearing down?
Paul's words have haunted me for a lot of years now. Remember his challenge to "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (Eph.4:29) Once you get past the occasional laugh that funny sarcasm my cause, at those rare times it isn't at the expense of hurting or humiliating someone else, it's hard to see when or how it helps, builds, or benefits anyone. Talk about a fascination with words, how does "wholesome" and "sarcasm" go together? It's not impossible, just not likely.
I shared a quote with our small group a while back that a friend shared with me. I really like it, especially as it is so appropriate to the times we live it. It's from Eric Hoffer, who said, "Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength." I thought of it the other day when a new potential presidential candidate was declaring how he wasn't afraid to be rude to get his message across. Well it makes me think! I wonder if sarcasm could be defined as a selfish person's impersonation of being kind? Does that sound sarcastic?

The Bible Is God's Word!

I have never had a problem with the reliability of the Bible. I know it contains God's message of Good News to man. As I mentioned Sunday, if you believe there is a God, it's reasonable to expect him to communicate both his will for us - as the only part of his creation made in his image, and his directions for how to have a relationship with him. When we understand that he created us to be in a relationship with him, the meaning and purpose of the Bible is clear, and it changes the way we interpret every word of it. His Spirit inspired or guided the writers, and protected it from destruction or alteration through the centuries.
I have never really had any problems with the canonicity of the Bible - that is, are the right books in there or did something get left out that should have been in there. One of my standard "religious jokes" through the years has been, "We don't agree with the Catholics on hardly anything, yet we believe they did a perfect job of deciding which books belong in the Bible." I called it "selective trust" or maybe "grudging admiration" since we traditionally believe we have "all the pieces of the puzzle." The truth is, nearly the entire list of books that made the final cut had been considered "canonical" decades, even a couple centuries, before the formalization of it around 400 AD, and it involved a lot more scholars and theologians than a council of Catholic leaders.
What I have had problems with for several decades, is the assumption that God intended for his church to have access to all the pieces of the puzzle before we can know the truth. Because - as our traditional interpretive methodology has declared - you need all the parts to put together all the doctrinal patterns that complete the picture of what it means to truly be Christians like they were in the New Testament (aka - Restoration Theology). If that was the plan, it was poorly executed - especially when you consider how few people over the last two thousand years have had access to all the pieces (i.e. all twenty-seven NT books). How long has it been available to anyone who wanted to see it? Maybe the last two to three centuries? And how many of those first or second century brethren had access to all the parts.
I believe THE Gospel - the good news of Jesus - saves. Jesus is the truth. The truth is not having all the pieces of the doctrinal puzzle figured out. Consider this, if you only had a copy of one of the Gospels, would you have enough to become a child of God and be pleasing to God? I think you would. Everything else is great, but it's the tool box to help, not the law book to make us righteous.

Play Pics

FYI for those who are interested, there are two hundred and something pictures from our play that have been posted on our webpage. They are really good, with lots of close-ups, and in no particular order. Go to the web page, click on Photo Gallery then on The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, in blue at the bottom of the window. Our good friend Ben took the pictures. I think he has done our pictures, especially our cast pictures, every year. He has a great zoom lens that caught some great facial expressions from several cast members. http://www.florissantchurchofchrist.org/

"Go thou and do likewise"

Just for fun, I started a list of passages of scripture that - in my opinion - have been sadly abused and misused through the years. Unfortunately, for some of these I have been just a guilty as he next guy. Just because something can be applied, doesn't mean it should - especially if you are trying to represent the author correctly.

Ten of the Most Abused Passages in the New Testament
1. Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them." This is all about resolving problems with a brother and has NOTHING to do with the assembly of the saints. I still remember a preacher using this verse to say that if you miss church, you're missing a chance to be with Jesus!
2. John 9:31 "We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will." There is a principle of answered prayer there, but this is an uninspired healed man, who is being questioned by the Pharisees. To use this verse to teach that God only listens to Christians is to ignore the whole principle of seeking him. He was only trying to say that God was clearly listening to Jesus.
3. 1 Corinthians 14:32 "For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace." This admonishment to inconsiderate tongues speakers and prophets has nothing to do with whether or not it's okay to sing during the passing of communion. Don't say "Duh!" I've heard it used that way.
4. 1 Corinthians 14:40 "But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." This is not a defense of tradition or the standard order of worship.
5. Philippians 2:12 "...work out your salvation with fear and trembling." It is not a call for involvement but a call to continue on a journey to know God better. "...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (vs.13)
6. Matthew 28:19-20 The Great Commission - you know it. Jesus never called all of his followers to be missionaries spreading his Gospel. He did call on all of us to be his witnesses wherever we are. There is a reason why "apostle" means "one sent".
7. Hebrews 10:25 "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." This never was about attendance, but about missing an opportunity to encourage others. The whole point was looking for ways to "spur one another on toward love and good deeds." If the assembly stops being an opportunity to encourage others, and all about "getting" encouraged - it stops being what God wanted it to be.
8. Titus 1:5-9 & 1 Timothy 3:1-7 You know it - the elder stuff. I don't believe Paul ever intended this to be a list of the qualifications of an elder. He was simply describing what a mature, godly leader might look like.
9. Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who come to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." The concept of faith in this passage is not doctrinal correctness. Faith is the earnest seeking after God, who "we do not see" (vs.1). This isn't about the right conclusions but the right journey.
10. 2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." Paul was talking about the Old Testament "holy Scriptures" Timothy had been studying since his infancy, not the 27 books, including his thirteen letters, that would centuries later be known a the New Testament. It might apply, but he certainly wasn't thinking of that when he wrote to Timothy.

I Believe Jesus Is the Son of God!

Faith is what you tell yourself - primarily about things you can't see. When you think about it, the vast major of what we know is knowledge by faith. We haven't been to all the places we know about, or seen very many of the things we've heard about, but we trust the witnesses and evidence we've been presented and we have little problem accepting things as fact. An old Roy Rogers and Dale Evans song said, "Have faith, hope, and charity. That's the way to live sincerely. How do I know? The Bible tells me so."
When you are answering the question "Why do you believe Jesus is God's Son?" your answers - your faith - will rest on whether or not you believe the Bible is true and from God. That is my lesson for this coming Sunday, but for now, the Bible is my primary source of evidence. Here is a brief overview of how I answered that question last Sunday.
I believe Jesus is God's Son...
1. Because God says he is! (And I believe God - see last weeks lesson) We all remember what God said at the baptism of Jesus, and again at his Transfiguration. "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!" Can you accept or believe only SOME of what God says? Look at some of Jesus' declarations in John 5, 8, and 14.
2. Because his life says he is! (This needs to be a separate sermon on its own.)
A. Look at what he left! Philippians 2:6
B. Look at what he became! vs.7
C. Look at what he sacrificed! vs.8
D. There is no other explanation for who is was/is!
3. Because his signs say he is! (Who else could do these things?)
A. His signs show that he is Lord of creation. (Jn.1:1; 8:58)
B. His signs show that he was a compassionate teacher
C. His signs show that he was a purpose driven Son
4. Because his teachings say he is! (Not just claims!)
A. His total focus on his father (at 12; in his ministry)
B. His total focus on his priorities (Plan! Timing! Place!)
C. His total focus on love (His obedience, journey, goal = God)
5. Because witnesses say he is! Witnesses who died for their faith!
A. Peter: Matt.16:18 then in Acts 2:36
B. Thomas: Jn.20:28
C. Paul: Phil.2:9-11
6. Because his resurrection says he is!
A. His resurrection was the Good News (check out Acts preaching)
B. His resurrection confirms our resurrection. Rom.6:4-5
C. There is no explanation for why God raised him from the dead other than he was his Son - the Messiah.
7. Because my heart says he is! Like the woman at the well in Jn.4, the more I'm with him the more he confirms who he is. God's promise of seeking & finding is true with Jesus! No one who ever lived is like him, is as one with God, and willing to die for me to pay my debt!
Conclusion: "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird? It's a plane? It's Superman!" One of my favorite childhood TV shows. You see observation! Options! Reaching the only reasonable conclusion. When you look at Jesus - check the options - there is only one reasonable conclusion.

Where's The Ark?

We had a huge storm come through early this morning, just as I was getting up at 5:45, and at 6:30 I stepped out on our porch and noticed how "out of the banks" our little pond was. The above picture may not seem too unusual to you, especially if you haven't seen it at normal times, but there are weeds on the edge of the pond that are three feet tall, and they are under water. It's almost into our actual back yard property.

For family and friends, this picture probably show better how high the pond got. Notice how close it is to our neighbor's porch, which is a good bit closer to the pond than we are. Then look at the spill-way in the upper right, and the usually high embankment. Our oldest grand kids like to play in that area when they visit. At the time of this picture, it's several feet higher than normal. In fact, I've never seen it this high in our six and a half years of living here. It probably has been this high, but it was at night and we couldn't see it. I know it had to get up about this high to wash away the goose nest, eggs and all, that was just below our house back in the early Spring. This is really just a holding pond, but it's been here for around twenty-five years, so it has a lot of wildlife and fish in it, and has very little human interference. We've been entertained the last week by a momma duck with about eight little fluffy ducklings swimming behind her. Hope they made it through the flood.

"Out of the mouth of...smart kids!"

After the Sunday morning assembly time, I came back into my office to put my Bible (and glasses) up, and found a red-smiley-face balloon in my chair. I could tell it had something rattling around in it, but I had no idea why it was there or what it was for, so I set it on my desk and rushed on to "meet & greet". At our Tuesday morning staff meeting, Donna told me it was from the 3rd an 4th grade Bible class, and the things inside it were messages to me. Well, it was Wednesday before I had a chance to slice it open and see what the messages were. Here they are - as they appeared on the tiny rolled up pieces of paper.
"Your the Preacher ever" w/ smiley face. I'm not sure if a word is missing or if it's a "styling" compliment, with a strong emphasis on "the". I still like it.
"thank you for teaching my parents about God - Sens they know about God they can tell me now." I love it that they are thinking about their parents.
"kind hearted, good Preacher, good singer, funny, cool, love u" You can't tell me that kids have no taste!
"funny, nice, cool, awesome, a good actor" I hope that last one is a reference to the play and not my preaching. Love it!
"You are awsomely awsome" Can it get any better than that?
"Pastor Mike: You are a wonderful man of God You have such a Gift from God." Wow! That is so encouraging and humbling because either this kiddo it way older than their years, or they have been hearing some wonderful things from their parents. Maybe both.
Thank you to the teachers who had their kids do this, and thank you to some great kids who made my day - maybe my week - hey, maybe my month!

Here's What My Heart Tells Me

In the last blog I offered the challenge to list the reasons why you believe in God. This is a brief overview of what I presented Sunday.

I introduced the subject by talking about those who deny the reality of the Holocaust in the face of so much evidence. My two transition sentences were: "Because of what my heart tells me about the evidence I've heard and seen - I believe, and therefore know, there was a Holocaust. Because of what my heart tells me about the evidence I've heard and seen, I believe and therefore know, there is a God." My points are not as much about scientific and/or logical arguments as they are about what my heart tells me. Here are the top reasons I believe in God.

1. Because I can't ignore my heart! The reality of God is innate. We are born knowing there is a superior being who is in charge. Every culture in every era everywhere knows it. We are more than instincts and needs, we know we have a soul. The very fact that we have to work to reject that shows we are more than just the top of the food chain.
2. Because I can't ignore order, design, and beauty! Who or what, in all of creation cares besides us? We know there is a "who" behind such a clear sense of purpose for everything. That is what Paul was refering to in Romans 1:19-20. "He is clearly seen in the things he has made."
3. Because I can't ignore my inner spirit that says "there is more" to life and living! I have a moral consciousness - a sense of right or wrong - a sense of "ought" that is more than education. I know there is something more - to come!
4. Because I can't ignore the testimony of others past and present! People I love and respect. People wise and educated, who did not see knowledge as ego. People who drove our history. People who were called by God, obeyed, and gave their lives in service to God. They are either a testimony of reality or they are all crazy.
5. Because I can't ignore that "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Ps.139:14) More than design and spirit - a matter of "awe". Our bodies are more complex and amazing than any computer. Hundreds of systems performing thousands of tasks every second of every day. I also know it was never meant to last, and that's okay - there's more.
6. Because I hear God say "yes" when my heart asks him "Do you love me?" I know he does. He created me for relationship with him. He planned everything to make it happen. He paid the price and declared his love for me!
Conclusion: BUT what if I'm wrong? Have I really missed out on anything important? Love? Relationships? Quality of life? Character of heart?
BUT - if you ignore and reject God - what if you're wrong? You have to ignore your heart, the evidence, and your own common sense, just to feel better about your sinful living.
Didn't Jesus tell a story about a man who was surprised to wake up in torment?

How Do You Know?

Do you know someone who isn't a Christian, who isn't a believer? What would you say if that person asked you, "Why do you believe in God?" Do you have some ready-made answers in your brain pocket to given them? Have you studied apologetics enough that you're ready and able to debate the existence of God? I have, but I'm not - ready or willing. I don't believe you ever change or win anything with an atheist, especially one who wants to argue their case. But what about that honest seeker who just wonders why you believe there is a God? What would you say? Have you even thought about it?
I am beginning a new series of lessons this coming Sunday on "The Reason I Believe" and the first lesson is "The Reason I Believe In God." I really didn't want to pull out my Christian evidence books and review all the scientific and logical arguments. I just want to answer it from my heart. Sure, part of what my heart says is based on some proofs and some logic, but it's a heart that has been seeking for over forty-five years. What's in it? Why do I know that God is there, involved, caring, listening, answering, and waiting? How do you know - or do you?
Take out some paper and a pen and write down your list. Not from someone elses book, but from the pages of your heart.
I'll share my reasons next week, after I present it to my church family on Sunday. Let's see if we match, or if you came up with something I should have.

Is life a "pair of bulls"?

Life is full of weird feelings. Some of them seem down-right contradictory - like crying with joy or laughing at sadness. That's a little bit what it's like to feel a "good tired." I mean, when you're tired - you're tired, and it usually isn't something to cheer about. This year's Bible Action musical took a lot of work. Everything from dress rehearsal through the four performances that ended Sunday night was fun and excited, but it really wore me out. Sunday usually does that when there's not a play. BUT, it feels good to be tired doing something that is worthwhile. It feels good to be worn out and sharing it with people you love to be with - and who are equally worn out. I've shared it multiple times, but our purpose or motto in the play, is "Have fun, do your best, and glorify God." It's truly a good formula for life, but it truly expresses what I feel like we all did with our play this year. It's thrilling to see a plan come together! It's exhilarating to see everyone stay focused and committed, and working like a well-oiled machine! It's uplifting to see extra chairs being put out during the performance as the overflow crowd continued to come in after the start of the play! It's wonderful to have such great shared memories that included family and friends and stories that we'll be talking about for years to come.

There are tons of spiritual lessons it makes me think about, as well as loads of scriptures that come to mind. But, the thing that echos in my heart more than anything else is - God is good! He answers prayers that we began praying many months ago. What really blows my mind is wondering how much he guided what we did? Did he put the people in place to pull this off? Did he put the ideas in my head? Did he use us to speak to someone who attended, who he wanted to hear the message we presented? Was it all part of an answer to a prayer someone besides us prayed? Who did he lead to be in our auditorium one or more of those four shows?

I guess it really isn't about what "we pulled off" but about what he did to accomplish his will!

Another reason for the tired feeling to be called good!

What a great cast & crew!

Tonight is the last night of this year's musical. It has really gone well and I am so proud of the job that every cast and crew member has done. This is the cast picture that our good friend Ben took for us last Wednesday after the dress rehearsal. Click on it and enlarge it if you want to see faces a little better. We've had excellent crowds each night, and like usual, we've gotten better each night. It has truly been a lot of fun. It's just so nice to have people walk out after the show and tell us how much they enjoyed it, but also how they "got" the lessons from each of the three parables we retell as westerns. And of course, it's wonderful to see some old friends who came to see the show. It has truly been a blessing in every way and makes all the hard work more than worth it.
We've got a lot of family visiting with us. Some of the grand kids have seen the show every night. This week I'm hoping we can relax and just spend some fun time together. I'll try do a blog on Tuesday, and it might even be about something other than the play.

Dress Rehearsal

You'll have to come to the play to figure out what this is. It's safe to say it's something you may never have seen in a church building before.

This is the narrator's stage with me and Steve Bechtel (sitting) as the narrator's. The other two fellows are helping me sing my song about The Rich Man & Lazarus.

Dress rehearsal went well. It's a great play. We'd all love to have more rehearsals, but we'd feel that way no matter how many we had. I'm very proud of the great job everyone as done. Time to leave for tonight's first performance. I'll try to put some more pictures in a couple days.

God's Incredible Children

I have truly enjoyed, and been inspired by, my own personal study and preparation for the series of lessons I've done in May called God's Incredible Family. I did one lesson on what it means to be the family of God, and then I did lessons on Moms, Budgets, Dads, and last Sunday, Children. This last one was the only one I had a little trouble with. I didn't want to just do an old rehash of Jesus with the children in Matthew 18 - but then - I really looked at. You can listen to it on the church web page, but I wanted to share what I called Three Challenging Principles from Matthew 18:1-14.
1. A child was Jesus' best illustration of greatness in God's kingdom. (vs.1-4) Wow! Just think about what that means! Of all the things he could have chosen - he picked children as a powerful example of what God is looking for! What is greatness in God's eyes? A humble seeking heart! But here is the point from this that grabbed me - it's not just an illustration but a declaration! Children are in the kingdom of God and HE dearly loves them. It's not just a symbol but real! Everything else he says is supporting that fact!
2. Jesus clearly proclaims God's love for children! (vs.5-9) He warns anyone who would mislead them: 1) To welcome them is to welcome him; 2) If you cause them to sin - it's better to die! 3) If you are a Sin Carrier = cause others to sin = you need radical surgery! Then he warns anyone against minimizing their importance. 1) They have angels watching over them w/ direct access to God (vs.10), and they are individually more important than the whole. (vs.12-14)
3. Jesus presents one of the most challenging demands of His ministry! (vs.3) He declares it a truth = fact, indisputable, that gives us insight to God. He demands that we "change and become like little children." Spiritually speaking, the older you get in Christ, the more child-like you become. That's not what we see in many "older" Christians today! He wants to see humility (Importance comes from God); seeking (a heart wanting to know God), and the rejection of worldly greatness (what makes someone great and what makes a church great). He is clear about the failure to follow his challenge. "You will never enter the kingdom of heaven!" That's more than eternity with God in heaven - it is the spiritual world of God now!
With all the things we fuss and fume and divide over, there is nothing about what Jesus wants here that is hard to understand. He and His Father are always clear about what they really want! Maybe we're too grown up to "get it"!

The Real Outback

It has been awhile, so I thought I'd say it again. I love our back porch. Here we are in the last days of May, and we're finally getting some nice days of consistent warm Spring weather. Our back porch is so peaceful that I love to sit out there and enjoy the flowers and the wildlife, and just relax for a while. If you look really hard (or click on the picture and zoom in) you'll see the Humming bird feeder at the far end of the porch. I love watching them. They're pretty and they are amazing. They come in so quickly and zoom away so fast that it's really difficult to even see them, let alone get a picture.

These are some of the flowers we got this Spring just to add some color to the view on the porch. Before I put the feeder up, the Humming birds would feed straight from the flowers. Neat to watch!

I did manage to get this picture of a Humming bird coming in to feed. I really was only about eight feet away and I had my zoom on full. If your computer will let you, click on the picture and zoom it in for a great up close look at a very beautiful part of God's creation. Hopefully they'll keep showing up when all the grand kids are here next week.

God's Incredible Dads

FYI: Just wanted to share my points from last Sunday's lesson on God's Incredible Dads. I know it's a month until Father's Day, but, like I said about Moms, any and every day can and should be Father's Day. To any of my young preaching buddies - feel free to use any or all of the following if you're looking for a good Father's Day sermon. As I say often, "That'll preach!"

Ten Traits of Real Dads
1. Real Dads should be grown-ups! (Mature, priorities straight, & unselfish - Heb.5:11 - 6:3)
2. Real Dads want to be real men not peer wimps! (Stop trying to impress guys who haven't learned point #1)
3. Real Dads are heroes at home - first!
4. Real Dads value trust and integrity! (Small compromises for you become life changing rationale for your child later!)
5. Real Dads love and honor their wife! (Best thing you can do for your children! Say it, show it, make it clear!))
6. Real Dads respect their wife and demand the same from everyone in the family!
* Respect her work, her opinions, and her needs. Eph.5:25-33
* Defend her to kids, relatives, and everyone else!
7. Real Dads are thoughtful!
8. Real Dads are thankful! (Secret to a successful marriage & to being thoughtful)
9. Real Dads are developing a deeper relationship with Jesus! (Not arrived, but journey. Talk to Him = being thankful)
10. Real Dads see souls not just kids! (Priorities: "What does it profit a man..." and peace. The only way to live in a real life and death world.)
Conclusion: Notice I said very little about what to teach your children. Why? What they see is more important!

The $500 Cake

If you've ever wondered what a $500 cake looks like, take a close look at the one in the picture. It's a German Chocolate Cake, lovingly named five years ago as The Cootie Cake, because of the chocolate candy swirls on top. You've got to be old to remember The Cootie Game. Anyway, Donna made this for our annual Dessert Auction last night. It is a fund raiser for our Teen Mission trip this year to Mexico. I was planning to bring it back home - cause it's a great cake - for $100, but the opening bid was $200. The bidding was hot & heavy between a group who pooled their money together and a good friend who LOVES Donna Root's cakes. He won the bidding with $500 and had to run home to get his check book. Wow! Donna has made this cake every year and the highest it's brought in was $300. She wasn't even going to make it this year, but one of the organizers called her and asked her to make it - since it always made so much money.
It was a fun time together. I haven't heard what the total amount raised was, but I'm sure it was a lot. I hope my good buddy Steve Smith enjoys every slice of that cake. I know he enjoys knowing he helped a worthy mission effort.
Just a family note! Just for future references - when you make food requests for Nana, remember which one is NOW the MOST VALUABLE! Isn't that like $50 a slice?

Sharing With The Family

This morning the cast sang one of the praise songs from this year's play. It's something we've done every years since we starting doing the annual musicals six years ago. Not only does it give us a chance to show off a little of what is in the play, but it allows us to get the rest of the church family excited about what the play will be like. We need members to help us hand out advertisements and personally invite people to come to the play. This helps get them motivated.

We had a few cast members out of town today, but the group did a great job. They sang one of our Southern Gospel songs from one of the Gaither Homecomings. They did Shouting Time In Heaven and did a little "rockin' out" as you can see in the above picture. They're clapping - just in case you were wondering why their hands where up. It will be interesting to see how "involved" the audience gets this year. You can also see some of the set that is partially constructed.

I mentioned this morning that starting today (Sunday) we can start saying that the play is next week. We've still got a lot to do, but it will be great. Hope you can see it.

Reading Material?

A friend sent me this picture the other day. It had the caption "Volume One, On Understanding Women". I was going to use it my lesson this Sunday about "God's Incredible Dads" with a point about "Real Dad's recognize that they will never totally understand their wife." I decided it wasn't worth the effort for a brief laugh. I am intrigued by the picture above. It seems to me that there are many other potential captions that would fit. Here are my Top Dozen ideas.

1. "This is the latest commentary on the Silence of Scriptures"
2. "A few wise saying for my kids"
3. "Some Random Additions to my books on Worship"
4. "Things I don't like about other drivers"
5. "I'm tolerant, but these are a few opinions I have about bowhunting"
6. "Vol. One: Things I Shouldn't Have Said"
7. "So, you wanted to see how much a Flash Drive really holds?"
8. "A Short List of the Only Candy I Can Eat"
9. "600 Blogs - Now available for purchase!"
10. "An outline of Sunday's Lesson on 'The Pragmatic and Utilitarian Aspects of the Documentary Hypothesis' with discussion questions"
11. "Our Tax records so far in 2011 of our trips to Fritz's for Frozen Custard"
12. "Things in the Cabela's catalog I've highlighted for Christmas"

Any ideas?

One Blog At A Time...

My previous post was my 600th post on this blog. Wow. I know it's an overused cliche' but it really does seem like just a short time ago I began this adventure. At the time, all three of our kids (yes, they're all thirty-something) had blogs and it seemed like a great way to share pictures, thoughts, and inspiration with them and anyone else who cared about us. I have tried to do two or three blogs a week and I try to keep it a mixture of personal/family stuff and devotional/inspirational stuff - and of course, sometimes it's a mixture of both. A lot of other peoples blogs have come and gone over the last five years that I've been doing this one, and frankly, I'm still a little surprised that I enjoy it and still do it. It's very difficult to "have" to write something, but most of the time I have so many things running through my mind that it's more a matter of "which" than "what"? I have been surprised to hear from people from all over the country who say they read it regularly so comments, or lack thereof, isn't a good measure of its reach. I'm surprised that there are nearly a thousand hits a month, but then, a hit doesn't always mean a reading. And one of the more interesting things I've had to teach myself about writing a blog is to not let it be a measure of love and friendship. Sometimes, the people you love the most and want to stay in touch with the most, don't see reading my blog as a test of their loyalty and love. I know that. In fact, I learned that a long time ago when I'd give copies of one of my books to family or friends - assuming they would devour it with as much passion as if it had been written by Swindoll, Lucado, or even the Holy Spirit - only to find out mouths later that it went straight to the shelf, just under the unread Reader's Digest. We must be careful about personal tests of love, just as the church should about tests of faithfulness.
Anyway, after rattling on for so long with this present "masterpiece"(?), I do want to thank any and every person who has checked in on my weekly compositions of family memories, pet peeves, wild theology, and occasional wisdom. Hopefully something in one of these 600, I mean 601, blogs has blessed you in some way. If it is the Lord's will, I plan on doing a few more.

Paul's Rights?

I can't remember a time when I complained about my salary as a minister of the Gospel. My brethren have always taken great care of me and my family. I haven't asked for a raise since our second child was born in the late seventies, and I've never moved to another church family for a salary increase. It was always a lateral or less financial move. I am thankful that the "vow of poverty" is not one of the Catholic traditions we still keep today (among others that we do).
So, with the disclaimer out of the way, as I was preparing this week's lesson on God's Incredible Budget (every family has to deal with finances), I was completely surprised to notice some very interesting things the New Testament teaches about every member's financial responsibilities to the family. There really are only two reasons why God commanded His children to give money to a general fund. The only times members contributed in the New Testament was out of compassion for those in need, and to support those who teach the Gospel. To use familiar institutional language, it was for Missions and/or Benevolence. Christians gave to help family members in their congregation or other congregations who were in need, and to support those spiritual leaders who worked locally or were spreading the Gospel somewhere else. (Acts 2:42-46; 4:32; 1 Cor.16:1-2; 2 Cor.8-9) Everything else is a matter of expediency.
That is probably not such a new revelation to most students of the Bible, but what I found truly interesting was how much New Testament scripture was devoted to paying ministers. Read 1 Corinthians 9 again. Paul devoted more space to his "right" to receive financial support than most of the doctrines we call "essential" and "correct." He gives multiple illustrations of the principle of paying, sharing, or rewarding those who serve, and where else does Paul talk so much about his "rights" as a minister and an apostle? He is very clear: "...the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel." But, after making all those arguments, he then explains "But we did not use this right".
I know it's semantics to most people, but I have argued for decades that ministers are not employees of the church or the elders, we are ministers of God who are supported by the church. That probably doesn't mean much to most people until you realize that ministers were never meant to be treated like employees by the church or by elders - even if that is what the government says we are. It's a relationship of partners in the gospel, not the "power of the purse."
Just a few sentences after deferring his rights, Paul declared, "...I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel." If getting paid ever becomes more important than that passion and commitment - well, that person is in the wrong line of work. Still, I'm thankful that I don't have to learn how to make tents.

Mom's & Mantras

In my nearly four decades of preaching, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I actually preacher a sermon about mothers on Mother's Day. I have never liked letting the world determine which days are special, which by it's very nature is an admission that some days aren't. Hence, my hesitation to feel pressure to focus one day on things that should be every day (i.e. Day of Prayer, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc. etc.) Nevertheless (don't you love that word?), last Sunday, as part of a month long series on God's Incredible Family, I talked about God's Incredible Moms. She is a woman of "noble character" (Prov.31:10-31), a woman of "great worth to God" (1 Peter 3:1-6), and my last point was "She must be aware of Satan's successes." The three sub-points for this, were originally the main points, but I decided it was too negative for a Mother's Day lesson. I won't elaborate on them, but I did want to share them on my blog. (The whole lesson is on the church web page)
1. What is sad is to see women who have to be the spiritual head of the family.
2. What is sad is to see women who have learned to be as big of a jerk as men are - sometimes.
3. What is sad is to see women who don't understand the importance and joy of being spiritual Moms.
I suspect you can do your own "explain, illustrate, & apply" to each point, and yes I know there is a lot to say about Dad's, but his is about Moms. Dads are week after next.
One of the toughest things anyone has to deal with as a parent is remembering what REALLY MATTERS. Keeping priorities straight! Keeping the main thing the main thing! Basically remembering that you only have one chance to do it right and then you spend the rest of your life reliving your mistakes, your immaturity, and your regrets. It doesn't have to be that way if you stay focused on what REALLY MATTERS.
I believe the other side of the coin is just as important. A Rootism that I have written about before is this: Real wisdom is knowing when something "Just really doesn't matter." If you are uptight and stressed out about all of life's responsibilities and the need to "do it all perfectly," - learn to say that phrase as a mantra for life's "mole hills". Take a deep breath - think about what you are uptight about - it's not life or death, and it's not about eternal matters, and it's not about self-worth! Repeat it over and over several times - IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER.
I use it often - sometimes several times a day. It works for self imposed deadlines and for people who treat you by their own mantra of "What have you done for me lately." What does matter is being at peace with God.

Happy Mother's Day!

Here are my two favorite Mothers helping each other pin their flowers on before we left for church this morning.

And this is the finished product with the roses from the Bills and the pretty card from the Miloms. I wonder whose Diet Coke that is? Duh. They clean up pretty nice don't they?

Cool Cards Game

If you are a Cards fan, you can tell by his stance that this is Albert at bat. Unfortunately, he didn't do much to help them win the game on Tuesday night. We took Donna's Mom to the game after visiting Union Station and then catching a great dinner at TGI Friday's. We had a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day except for being unusually cool for the first week of May.

I did say "unusually cool" right? Well, how about cold? This is a picture from early in the game and you can see that Donna and her Mom are already bundled up. I was too. It was only about 49 degrees, but the wind was blowing and with only jackets and light clothing on, it got pretty cold. We actually left after the sixth inning and listened to the rest of the game on the radio as we drove home - with the heater on. I was still a lot of fun and great to have the best Mother-in-law in the world visiting us.

"Ding dong, the witch is dead!"?

We've all been reminded, and consequently rethinking, about the events of 9/11 almost ten years ago. In my nearly six decades of breathing, it is the only national tragedy that surpasses that November day in Dallas when we lost our President to a crazy man with a gun. The images of those airplanes slamming into those towers and knowing that hundreds just died right before my eyes, and the horrible sight of those giant buildings collapsing down, one floor at a time, taking the lives of WTC employees and hundreds of rescue workers, are burned into our minds as permanently as that iconic picture of the USS Arizona exploding on December 7, 1941.
Many of us have another image burned into our heads. One that many have forgotten about and I haven't seen replayed on the News yet. It is the video clips of people who hate America celebrating and cheering after hearing the news about the 9/11 attack. To them, it was a great victory. To them, the 19 Muslims who hijacked the four planes and turned them into suicide bombs were martyrs and heroes. To them, the man identified as the leader and architect behind the attack was idolized as a champion and super hero. I remember my anger building up as I watched them cheer and dance and thinking to myself, "Where's 'The Bomb" when you truly need it?" I'm glad I didn't let the sun go down on that anger, but the mental pictures are still there.
And now Osama bin Laden is dead. After nine and a half years of hiding and mocking our military and intelligence people, his body has found a cold grave in the depth of the sea. I am glad that justice was served, and that the world is a better and safer place. I deeply admire the soldiers who went in there and got it done, and all the support people who helped pull it all together. I am proud of our soldiers and the success of our country.
Please excuse me if I don't feel the call to dance and cheer. I don't want to look like those people who danced and cheered in 2001 when my country was attacked and my fellow country-men where massacred. I don't want to look anything like them. I don't want to criticize any American who has been cheering and dancing, but it makes me uncomfortable. This isn't a football game. This is life and death. This is about people who are walking and breathing one second and the next standing before God to give account of themselves. I can't see Jesus celebrating over someone being killed, even if it was justified - even if it fits the biblical definition of "Be sure your sins will find you out."
Thanks to a well known movie, and a vivid imagination, I also have a mental picture of people cheering the order "Crucify Him!" Of course, there is no comparison, but there is a principle of propriety, seriousness, and eternity that makes any death nothing like a college pep rally.
Can you imagine Osama explaining himself to God? That's heavy stuff! But then, each of us will do the same thing.

God's Incredible Family!

For the month of May I will be presenting a short series of lessons on God's Incredible Family. It is my belief that much of what we struggle with as a church (everywhere) can be traced back to its transformation from a simple family to an institution. Along with becoming an institution the church then became a place, a time, a keeper of orthodoxy and traditions, and the definer of faithfulness, evangelism, giving, and worship. Those were never part of the intended purpose of of God's people getting together. In today's culture of individualism, anti-institutionalism, and consumerism, the more the church protects and pushes that agenda the more the unchurched and marginal members are turned off to "church".
We must recapture the biblical concept of God's family! There is a reason God used the family image to define, describe, and direct his people. It is the natural conclusion of love. It is the the only group identity where people are, and stay, bound to one another, because love is what you are not just what you feel. Families thrive and remain committed to one another even when they get angry, strongly disagree, get irked with one another, and can't agree on what TV shows to watch. They don't split and start the Eastside Smith Family verses the Westside Smith Family. Because they are family they love each other even when it doesn't feel good. They support each other even when they really don't care much about watching soccer, dance recitals, or graduations. It's what families do. They each have responsibilities and they all do their part to take care of family treasures, property, and the family image in the neighborhood. Everyone helps to pay for what the family does. The older or more mature the young ones get, the more they contribute. It's what family do. Rules are sometimes needed and understood, guilt rarely works, pulling together in hard times is a no-brainer, and love is always the tie that binds.
If you want to see what a church family looks like, read Acts 2:47 and remember how those early Christians just wanted to be together and use every tool God gave them to help each other grow spiritually. Instead of trying to come up with a new set of goals, vision statements, and borrowed Church Growth ideas, why not ask the simple question, How can our church be more of a family? How can we be defined by our love for one another rather than a one hour program on Sunday morning that we can't all agree on anyway?
Maybe those people we are trying to reach with the Good News of Jesus are really looking for a family and not a religious corporation. God is "our Father" not our CEO. The Bible, especially the New Testament, makes a lot more sense when we hear the Holy Spirit talking to a family rather than an exclusive Sunday morning club.

Building Integrity

This is the final lesson in this series. This one is already on our web page - I listened to part of it yesterday mainly because I'm getting my next voice treatment this Friday and I wanted to hear how my voice was sounding. I was a little surprised at how much time I spent using Daniel as my example of integrity. Good stuff, but it really is just the intro. I feel very blessed and humbled about this series. I am thankful for the years of experience that God gave me in order to share things I never could have earlier in my live. I would love to share these with any church that might like to have some kind of family seminar, retreat, or workshop.

Building Integrity
Introduction:
A. Examples of "little" things we do that compromise our integrity with our children
B. Read about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego in Dan. 1-6
C. Integrity is like trust - fragile and hard to repair
D. Integrity or lack of it, reveals the real us
E. How can you teach what you don't have? Yet we all want our children to have it.
F. Where does it come from?
1. Integrity comes from a deep desire for honesty. (Genuine & total!)
A. Integrity is what you are when no one is looking
B. What is your integrity worth to you? An overpayment? An IRS refund? Etc.
C. Keep your word at all cost! Be obsessive about being honest!
2. Integrity comes from a deep desire for consistency.
A. The misery of inconsistency, yet we learn to live with it?
B. Who would question your integrity? Why? Are you okay with that?
C. Integrity should drive you - not anonymity!
D. Build it intentionally! Use opportunities - discuss what is right & why? Pray.
3. Integrity comes from a deep desire for peace.
A. Integrity is the gift you give yourself.
B. There will always be misunderstandings, but there doesn't have to be guilt! Look at the charges against Jesus - misread & misunderstood, but all wrong.
C. Phil.4:4-7 God wants us to be at peace - with Him!
*The best way to teach the value of integrity is to be at peace with God and your kids see it.
4. Integrity comes from a deep desire to please God.
A. The deception of pleasing self:
B. The pressure to please others:
C. The peace of pleasing God first:
Conclusion: Integrity is what happens when we fully embrace the presence of God

A Different Kind of Egg Hunt

It is still amazing that a tornado swept through north St. Louis County, just a few mile south of us, damaging over twenty-five hundred homes - several hundred totally destroyed - and there where no fatalities. The pictures that they are showing on the local TV news look like a war zone. The tornado hit the airport closing it down for Sunday and causing Donna to reschedule her return flight until Tuesday. Another "ripple effect" of the storm was that it turned our Saturday morning Easter Egg Hunt into an indoor activity - without the hunt. It was way too wet, and it did cut the usual number of children who attend by half. It was still a great event with lots of wonderful sharing, teaching, and connecting with scores of families from our community. I took some pictures, many of which ended up being out of focus and had to be deleted. You can see the decent ones on our church web page at http://www.florissantchurchofchrist.org/ and click on Church Photo Gallery and then on the blue "Easter Egg Hunt". I am so thankful and appreciative of all the folks who put so much work into making this great annual event so wonderful. It is one of the best planned and executed events that we do all year, and we did touch the lives of a lot of our community friends.

Another "ripple" in the storm involved our friendly goose who has been sitting her nest in our back yard for the last three weeks. We've been checking on her several times a day and were looking forward to seeing her little babies swimming behind her in our pond. Not gonna happen. Saturday, I noticed she was gone - for more than just a break - and walked out to find her eggs out of her nest and just on the edge of the pond.

The nest was just off this picture at the lower left corner.

I remembered waking up in the early morning darkness to a lot of honking from multiple geese - or at least it seemed like a lot of geese. It may have just been a very upset mom. I assumed it was another animal that knocked the eggs out of the nest, because we've seen that happen before, but then I noticed that the nest was washed clean without any feathers or nesting material at all. After the worst of the storm Friday night, I stepped out on the back porch and I could hear the pond's overflow spill-way roaring with flooding water. I think the nest just got flooded and washed away. Mom and Dad were gone and they have not returned. I guess we were a lot closer to the storm damage then we thought.

Why Are Churches Declining?

I'm not sure which is more discouraging; hearing folks complain about the widespread decrease in church attendance, or hearing what some think is needed to reverse the trend. I believe that part of what most churches are experiencing has it's roots in the turmoil of the sixties (decade not age group). That was when, I believe, church members first started wanting and asking for changes in the assembly. Words like "relevant" and "contemporary" started being used to defining what people were seeking. And that, for churches that blur the distinction between God's commands and man's comfortable traditions, set the stage for decades of arguing, struggling, dividing, and polarizing as churches gradually began to define themselves by their worship styles, preferences, and purposes. I repeat it regularly every time the subject comes up, but as long as you define yourself by your style of worship on Sunday morning, the less you look like Jesus and represent the Body of Christ.
The second, and bigger element in the "why are things changing" department, goes back several centuries. Even as a historian I don't dare venture a guess as to the date. But somewhere, Christians getting together to grow in love for one another and to help each other grow in Christ was replaced by a passive, non-participatory, one-dimensional, formal worship service, with times, places, and specified rituals to perform. Attendance not only became the definition of faithfulness, the assembly of the saints became a receiving experience and not a giving opportunity. It stopped being about helping others grow, and became the single most important part of our religious experience - and "IT BETTER MEET OUR NEEDS OR WE WILL TAKE OUR BODIES AND OUR BOUNTY TO A CHURCH THAT DOES."
Now we have workshops, retreats, books, seminars, degrees, and experts to tell us how to "meet needs" on Sunday morning and attract larger numbers to our "sacrifice of praise to God." I believe with all my heart that one of Satan's greatest victories was not having so many bars, brothels, and bad people, but simply turning the words of Jesus up-side-down. Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than it is to receive." Satan got us all to believe that didn't apply to our assembly time.
Today we are seeing, I believe, the natural evolution of "what's in it for me" as people simply say, "I don't need it." In their minds, if it was all about attracting them, meeting their needs, and entertaining them for an hour or so - it's not working any more. Remember, we are the ones that said it's all about the Sunday worship, and we are the ones who grew up believing it's supposed to do things for ME, and we're the ones who expected that worship service to be all things to all people thus making it a perfect prescription for judging, for church-hopping, and for failure.
A simple tool for building love for one another and for God should only be judged by how well it helps people develop a deeper relationship with Jesus. Yes, I know there are mega-churches with tens of thousand of members. I praise God for anything that glorifies Him. But are they mega-churches because they are attracting people to Jesus, or because they've got the "best game in town"? I don't know - I'm just asking.
The Hebrew writer said that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." If the church is the body of Christ, shouldn't we "really" look just like His body looked in the beginning? Back when Christians getting together was all about giving instead of receiving? We might be surprised to discover how attractive that is to a world with "needs."

The Missing Point?

Wednesday morning is my usual sermon preparation day. I like to think that my gradual transition over the years, from finishing my sermons on Saturday night to actually having them done four days early, is sign of maturity and being more conscientious, but it's actually more about my shear love of what God has called me to do. This week, since we were in Arkansas the first part of the week, I actually spent part of Tuesday afternoon preparing this week's lesson on Building Integrity. It is the final lesson in my eight part series on Extreme Makeover: Building Better Homes. I knew I'd be on the road Wednesday morning, (again, my usual sermon prep time) and I wanted it done so I could stay on my usual track and routine of weekly tasks.
I've said all that so I could make this point - the down side of finishing early is all the additional ideas that come to me over the next four days. I plan on that, and most of the time I jot them down in my sermon notes and use them on Sunday - unless they are too big and I know I don't have time to include them. Printing a final draft of a sermon, is like sending a manuscript off to a printer. The moment you say it's finished, you find things you wish you could add. Or to put it another way, it's like buying a dozen Krispi Kream doughnuts and telling yourself you're only going to eat one. Later you add the forgotten clarification of - I meant one - at a time.
I don't know if this will make it into Sunday's lesson on integrity, but here is a "Rootism" that has been on my heart today. Our integrity is defined and diminished by what we don't care about. That may not seem incredibly profound - until you start realizing what you DON'T DO THAT YOU SHOULD. If integrity is what you are when no one is looking, what does that say about us when we don't do things we should, because we don't care about them. We do the BIG STUFF - the SEEN stuff, but what about doing what is right when no one sees us? Picking up trash, rather than disgustedly thinking, "Someone needs to pick that up!" What about helping someone who dropped something, or who is having a hard time getting into their car with children and groceries? What about using that turn signal to let others know what you are planning to do? What about wiping off the sink in the public bathroom after you wash your hands?
The list is endless. It's all the little things we see, or choose to ignore, and - without saying it - we just don't care enough about it to do what's right! Doesn't that speak to the very essence of integrity? It's not just about telling the truth and not cheating on your taxes. It's being driven by a heart that is at peace with God. A heart that doesn't see burdens and guilt avoidance, but just consideration and compassion. A heart that truly wants to be like Jesus.
God tells us "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." (Prov.27:19) Head integrity is image management. Integrity in the heart, is instinctive thoughtfulness.

Building Faith

(I am out of town today, so I don't have access to my usual picture file. If you've forgotten what the Extreme Makeover logo looks like, just scroll down a couple blogs and you'll see it.)

Extreme Makeover - Building Faith (The lesson is on our web page)
My Top Five passages in the Bible about family: Joshua 24:15; Eph.6:4; Prov.31:10-31; 3 John 4; and the one I want to emphasis for this lesson, Matthew 16:24(...gain the whole world, but lose your soul) Building faith in our family is the most important thing we will do as a family. Move it to the top of your list before it's too late. Make it important!
Four Principles To Remember About Building Faith In Our Families:
1. Faith building means you are on a journey together!
A. At first, we are kids raising kids - learning and growing ourselves.
B. Recognize it as a process we all must go through on our own. John Westerhoff's, Will Our Children Have Faith, talked about the four levels of faith: Experiential Level, which is faith through your parents our someone who mentors you; Affiliative Level, which is being part of a groups, so it's really a group belief; the Searching Level, which is testing and doubting parents beliefs; and the Owned Level, where we seek God ourselves and know what and why be believe. Unfortunately, in some families, Jesus never left the church building.
C. Keep it a sense of growing together - I'm not perfect, I make mistakes and apologize, and to make it clear it is worth it.
2. Faith building is learning by observation not obligation!
A. There is a danger in fundamentalism, institutionalism, and legalism when they define "church" for young people. Lose respect for externals, rebel & reject meaningless acts or rituals, and they heat the inconsistency of church parents vs. at home parents.
B. Dolores Curran, "Faith is rarely passed on because of nuances in doctrine and theology. It is passed on because of the difference it makes in daily life."
C. Our goal is to guide them from us to Jesus.
3. Faith building comes from a positive and meaningful joy parents have about their faith!
A. What makes you happy makes your kids happy - they adopts our joys
B. Negative beliefs, critical opinions, unhappy & selfish members, and un-Christ-like comments bombard our kids = why they aren't going to church as adults!
C. Meaningful? Do they see me drawing closer to God? Do they see - Col.3:8-17?
4. Faith building supports family bonds, but it is not a prerequisite!
A. Love, support, & inclusion are what families do! Even if they don't share the same beliefs. Even if one or more loses their faith!
B. Open doors bring healing and hope - closed ones don't!
C. Jesus shows us how to deal w/ faith building in his disciples. Patience, love, & forgiveness w/ Peter! Available & understanding w/ Thomas. Grace is who we are, not just what we have!
Conclusion: No parent wants their child to fail. What about lose their soul? Matt.16:26? Move faith to the top of the list of family priorities. Who will pay for your attempt to "gain the whole world" for yourself or for your children?

When Will I Get It Right?

When I comes to understanding God's will, as it's recording in the Bible, everything depends on interpretation - the way you choose to see it. Unfortunately, very few people ever read God's Word with completely objective eyes. Most of us had a great deal of "prerequisite" ground work done to our brains, long before we started reading just for ourselves. And, depending on what kind of ground work it was, you may see or interpret scripture completely different from many others - even whole huge populations of people. (PB = Pragraph Break) If you believe it's a book of laws, rules, and binding patterns, you read it that way - looking for new laws, rules, and patterns that you might have missed, and to reinforce the ones you've always known were there. If you were taught that Christians have an official and formal worship, you will interpret many verses of scripture to be referring to that event, and you will have a basic assumption that there must be acts or prescribed rituals that must take place and must conform to what God expects. Because you started out with those basic assumptions, which you were raised to accept, you will interpret lots of scriptures to be referring to that formal worship rather than just Christian interaction in general. (PB) Others read the same passages and see God simply wanting his people to be together and support each other in their commitment to have a deeper relationship with Jesus. One person sees principles of love building, and other sees binding patterns that can not and must not be changed or omitted if one is to be doctrinally correct, which to many, is the same things as being saved. (PB) It sure does seem that everything depends on interpretation. What if I pick the wrong one? Since I have changed or modified my interpretations many times through the years, how many other, or more, changes do I need to make to get it right? With so many different interpretive approaches to understanding God's Word, which one is right? Are any of them completely right? (PB) Maybe everything doesn't depend on interpretation. Could it be that more than anything else God just wants people to seek him as best they can, with what they have, and with all their heart? No, everything doesn't depend on interpretation. Everything depends on the grace of God.

Building Traditions

It is understandable that folks who have read any one of my three books on worship might conclude that I am anti-traditions. I'm not. In fact, I love traditions! I love family traditions, AND, I even love church family traditions, but what I don't like are traditions that become law and/or are elevated to a position higher than God's will (or made synonymous with God's will). In the family, they can and should be valuable tools to help build family togetherness. Traditions can be a wonderful tool for good or a selfish tool for destruction. A good contrast is Matthew 15:3-9, where Jesus condemns the traditions replacing God's will, and Luke 2:41-42 where Jesus' family honors the customs of God's people.

Here are some thoughts to remember about traditions in the family.

1. Traditions are for bonding not binding! (A good way to determine when a church traditions is good or bad too)

A. This is why some children grow up and limit family ties while others deepen them.

B. The difference between burden and bonding - duty vs. belonging?

C. Bonding is a sense of belonging and closeness.

D. Problem: the potential conflict between "freedom" and "belonging" since they are both powerful emotions that are also direct opposites.

E. Balance: keep it fun, meaningful, and loving (not laws).

2. Traditions should foster family values!

A. Togetherness - enjoy it, plan it, anticipate it!

B. Thankfulness - for each other, for memories, and every day together.

C. Christ Centered - Jesus is an official member of our family. (Eph.6:1-4)

3. Traditions are to be cherished not worshipped!

A. Cherish your uniqueness - our family chooses to do it this way!

B. Use the tool, don't let the tool use you! Focus on the principle or value you want to foster in your family.

C. Keep it simple, memorable, flexible, and doable! Things change, so must our traditions. Remember, it's the little things that count the most, and they will change with age and needs.

D. Warning: age appropriate traditions may not have anything to do with the number of years a child has lived. Their heart decides when they are "too old" for something that means a lot. Try having a Family Trivia Night where children can show how much they know about you and your family history. It's also a great way to teach it. Remember, some traditions are ageless and timeless - if they still bond the family together.

Conclusion: Don't just choose to get married and choose to have children. Choose what kind of family you will have. Use traditions to help build it.

Spring Sprang

This may be more for family than anyone else, but this is our cherry tree nearly in full bloom. It doesn't last long, but when it does, it's a beautiful sight. Clearly Spring is upon us - finally. We had a big thunder storm early this morning that turned the pond brown, and I'm trying to decide if the grass is too wet to mow for the first time this Spring. Decisions, decisions? Anyway, the white blossoms of our cherry tree are always gone by the time any family comes to visit us. Every year, during the week of our musical, the cherries are ripe and ready to be picked. We usually let the birds do it. They love us for that.

Our front yard azaleas only last a short while too, but they are pretty.

These are the three trees on our side yard with the pond in the back. It's hard to tell, but the first one is red, the second pink, and the cherry tree is white.

Here is the real Spring story. This goose has made a nest right at the boarder of our yard and the common property around the pond. She has been sitting on her eggs for a least a week now. She rarely leaves the nest, but when she does, she and her mate will come charging back to protect it if you try to get close to it. So far, no one has messed with her. Not even some people who have walked their dogs back there, but they've all been on leashes so far. (See the white crane on the other side?)

This is as close as she will let me get. A zoom picture from our porch. (Can you see the turtle just to her right?) What worries me the most is what the HOA lawn care workers are going to do when they come to mow around the pond, which they will either today or next couple of days. I thought about putting up some kind of markers or signs, but she won't let anyone get close. I don't think she'll be as courageous with the big riding lawn mower when it arrives. I don't know what to do. I guess it's true, I'm not my goose's keeper.

The One Left Out

I put together my lesson for Sunday yesterday. My plan is to share the main points on my blog next week, as I have been doing since the series began. This topic is very different from the other seven on the Extreme Makeover list. All the other topics are qualities or virtues what we all need to care about and grow in, but this one is - well, a concept or an idea that can be either good or bad, depending on how we use it. I'm talking about traditions. Traditions are a tool to use that can support all the other qualities on my list. In the family, traditions are a very important part of building togetherness and closeness, and give us warm memories that we cherish and want to pass on to the next generation. I had a lot of notes of things I wanted to be sure and cover in this lesson. I was able to include most of them in the outline, and as usual, it's probably way more than I need to be covering in one lesson, but that's the nature of dealing with huge subjects in just one lesson. The one "note" on my list that I didn't put into the lesson was the importance of respecting the traditions of others. It's just too big a point to make as just a passing sub point in one sermon. Still, I think it's very important. I especially think it's important because I've already made the point in the lesson on Respect that you don't have to agree with someone to respect their opinions and view points. I spent too many years being judgemental, critical, and smug about people who practiced traditions that I didn't subscribe to or doctrinally agree with. I don't have to agree with it, and I have no business assuming that because I don't participate or agree, the ones who do must be ignorant, insincere, or shallow. Gut check! Is it really about the tradition or the heart? Because something looks strange or doesn't make sense to me, does that mean it's not honoring God when it's coming from a sincere heart? Many scream, "It's has to have biblical authority!" Would you like to dissect a Sunday morning communion and find out how much of what we do comes from our traditions and not the Bible? The heart is the most important report card to God. I believe He respects any attempt to seek Him, glorify Him, and become more like Him. As long as the tradition isn't made law and elevated above God's will, I should respect it. Paul did that on several occasions, and no one was tougher on legalism than he was. Maybe I can find space in my lesson after all. (Sorry - blogger's still not accepting any Return/Enter Breaks - hope that's not a new tradition!)

Blog Smog

Okay, before I start getting TOO impatient, for the last two weeks my blog has not allowed me to use any line breaks/returns. It's in the blog, but when I hit publish it takes out all Returns. I've pulled up the Edit screen and re-did the returns multiple times, but it always takes them out when I hit publish. I've tried everything I can think of and could play with, including all the recommendations in the HELP emails section. Any ideas? It's hard for someone who thinks in outlines to see them destroyed by a computer glitch. Hope it doesn't bother your reading of the blogs. Sorry. PS. Just for fun, I have a Break/Return after every sentence in this blog! I'm not laughing.

Building Responsibility

The lesson should be on our web page, but for those who might be interested in a "bare bones" overview of my lesson on Building Responsibility this past Sunday, I offer the following. The Rich Man and Lazarus, in Luke 16, gives us an excellent example of how responsibilities, or lack of being responsible, has consequences. My bud and co-worker Jerry, pointed out to me that if we didn't know the whole story, all of us would have labeled the Rich Man as "responsible". Great point. I did address that, without referring to the story, in Main Point #3 below. What is so important about being responsible? At the very least it includes... 1. Survival = even the world expects it 2. Self-respect = we all know we need it 3. Character = be a person of convictions 4. Maturity = it's value increases as we grow 5. Accountability = there will be consequences My premise is: Healthy parents train and teach their children the joy and self-respect that comes from developing a sense of responsibility. They must see it in their parents. Things to remember about building responsibility: (a primary source was Dolores Curran's, Traits of a Healthy Family) 1. There is a direct connection between being responsible and having good self-esteem. 2. Being responsible is more than doing chores. 3. Being responsible doesn't always mean being neat and tidy. * Typical definition from parents: neat room, done homework, compliant * A responsible child is one who is trying * Do not equate success & achievement w/ being responsible! (i.e. Rich Man) 4. Responsibility must be matched to capabilities. 5. Responsibility must be enveloped by affirmation. 6. Responsibility can't be learned without experiencing the consequences of irresponsibility. * Over-protective parents who accept or cover the cost of their child's irresponsibility are picking the temporarily easy way, the temporarily guilt-free way, the always wrong way. * Mistakes, failures, & poor choices are learning experiences - never made better by more bad decisions. * Be their parent now so they won't need a parole officer later! * Learn soon, save long-term! * Irresponsible children become irresponsible adults * One counselor said, "Either you raise your children full-time for twenty years, or else you end up raising them part-time forever."

2012 Plans

Come with us! We try to take a special vacation every two years - usually a cruise of some type. It takes that long to save for it or to pay off the last one. We tried to brake that rule by sticking in a cruise on this last off year and found out that we, nor any of our travel companions, could afford it. So now we have our next one booked and mostly planned. Since we loved our last vacation so much - due to it being in the middle of Winter - we decided to plan this next one during the same time period. There's nothing like a warm weather vacation in the middle of the bitter cold St. Louis Winter. Our plan is to take an eleven day cruise next February (5th) out of Brisbane and cruising the Fiji Island and other South Pacific islands. Originally we wanted to do a Holy Land/Med Cruise, but with all the turmoil in that part of the world, and with the higher cost of that cruise, we switched to looking for a warm weather trip in February.

We'd love to have you with us. You can look up the details at Princess.com and click on Cruise Search. Right now we only need a dinner table for six, but we'd love to reserve a larger one to include you. I'm so excited about it that I'm actually looking forward to next winter.

New Command? Yeah right!

I haven't always cared as much about love as I do now. No, I'm not talking about romantic love, or family love, or even love of country. I'm talking about theological love - the love that is God, defines and describes God, and becomes the bench mark of our closeness to God. It was always easier to think of love as obedience or commitment - or even faithfulness, because those are, or can be, visible, measurable, and judgeable. And besides, it was always so hard to deal with love as "doctrine" or "church" because it just didn't "feel" right for "real men" to talk so much about love. I mean, love is for women and chic-flicks - right? Love is that goofy feeling you have when you're so star-struck over a girl you can't even talk straight - right? And then there was all that weird business about loving your enemies! What's that all about? I don't feel like loving my enemies - or the...poor... the unclean...the different... or even that weird-socially-inept-church-member, who just doesn't know how to fit in. And who needs love when religion is all about following established-correctly-interpreted-biblical-patterns. It's better to be right than to be loving - right? I even remember purchasing books on love - because I was "supposed" to have them - and I intentionally shelved them for a future time when I knew (even then) that I'd be more interested in the subject. (What was I preaching back then? Ouch!) Something happened - I mean other than aging! I finally figured God out. Oh He was clear - I was just muddy with doctinal correctness. No matter what I read, studied, preached, taught, or thought about, I kept coming back to the Genesis point that it is all about knowing God - and God is love. No one, from Adam to after-life, can know God without knowing love. The patriarchs were impatient, Israel was legalistic and forgetful, and Christians want to win the debate. We all have done a miserable job of understanding and developing the love of God. When Jesus called loving one another "a new command" in John 13:34, we thought He was talking about emphasis. After all, how could it be "new". It had been around from the beginning - how could it suddenly be new? Sounds more like a rehash doesn't it? The reason it was new was because the pursuit of God no longer had anything to do with laws, rules, Temples, priests, sacrifices, and ceremonial performances. Love was now the only tool we needed to know God, please God, and be like God and "one another love" was the best way to learn it. Once we realize that love (God's love) isn't a feeling but a choice - a decision to act - all that worldly feel-good romance oriented thinking about love goes out the window. We only know God to the extent we know love! Everything else is only tools to use to help make that happen. Now my only question is, how did I miss that for so many years?