Get Busy Living or Get busy dying

I have been traveling since Sunday after services.  My aunt Sheryl (My dad's last surviving sibling) passed away. It has been a weird few days.  Emma went with me and we were able to see my mom for a couple days while we were in Nashville.  We were in the car for about 8 hours a day for 4 of 5 days. Emma and I had a great time together, taking it slow, having great conversations. 

Sheryl was lonely.  She was divorced in the late 70's. She lost her only son in 1984.  Her dad died in 1988 and her mom in 2001.  Her last brother died a year ago. 

Most of us let life pass us by.  Life lives us instead of us living life. 

Some of us learn to thrive, to live mostly in joy and excitement, and deal with the occasional heartache. 

Sheryl was in the smallest majority.  Since Earl died in 1984, Sheryl lived life in darkness; with a cloud of depression and hopelessness hanging on top of who she was and what she did.  She was very rarely, but occasionally able to break out of the darkness and find some light.

Sheryl was sometimes able to find a small purpose in taking care of others. 

What Sheryl lost -- when she lost Earl & then to a lesser extent when her parents died & then lesser still when she lost each sibling -- was her sense of purpose.

Instead of thriving in life, she learned to survive. 

I am worried that this is what most of our churches are doing -- just surviving.  

I'll continue this thought more in the coming days.  

In the next post, I will share with you what we have lost.

Closer to God

People: "What can I do to know God more?"

       Me: "Spiritual Disciplines"

P: "What's that?"

       M: "Spiritual disciplines are practices or disciplines that you put into place in your life that help you grow closer to God."

P: "That sounds cool, like what?"

       "Well, some are things like praying, and fasting and..."

"Fasting, like going without food?"

       "yeah, generally fasting would involve depriving yourself of something so that you can use your energy to focus on God for a time."

"I don't do that who depriving thing.  What else you got?"

         "Like I said praying and..."

"Oh, I pray."

         "That's great, lets build on that some. Tell me about your prayer life."

"I pray before I eat."
"well, when I remember, and if it won't embarrass me."

        "So have you ever set aside a little time each day just to pray?"

"I really don't have time to."

     "what can I do to help you?"

"I'd really like to know how I can get closer to God, without having to do anything differently."

     I have not had this conversation, but I have.  I am teaching through Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster right now.  It is a book that has brought great comfort to my life and has changed how I interact with God.  However, I have a difficult time getting others to even try out a discipline.  Even those who greatly want to know God more.  These young adults express a great desire to not just know about God, but to know God, to experience God. These same adults in their 20's and 30's are so busy with life that, other than Sunday morning and the occasional Wednesday night, there is no place, or no space, for God.

How can we help them slow down?

How can we help this age prioritize God into their lives?

Have you done anything recently with this age group (my age group) that helped them grow spiritually?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The Glory of The Son-- Compadres

So I am a part of a secret, (but not so secret) loosely connected, group of ministers (and several people who are not ministers) on Facebook.  This group prays for and encourages each other.  Sometimes it is a healthy place to vent, complain or rant, Sometimes it is a place to go ask questions, get ideas, or seek advice. It is called Compadres and the people in the group are truly compadres.   This summer several compadres are blogging through the theme "The Glory of the Son," This is my submission.
Below it are links to others who have blogged in this theme as well.    It is humbling to be included with this list of bloggers/writers.

NOT SO WITH YOU.  

These four words may not sum up the Gospel, but they should sum up our response to the Gospel. 

Jesus is traveling with his followers to Jerusalem when Mark tells the story of Jesus' third prediction of his death.  Jesus, like he has twice before in Mark, tells his followers that he is going to die when he gets to Jerusalem.  So they do what any rabbi following, messiah loving, Jesus wannabe, students would do-- two of them pull Jesus aside and secretly ask him if they can have the places of honor when Jesus is in his Glory (Obviously oblivious to what that would entail, and clearly not what disciples should do).  So he tells them,  "These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” Who would have ever guessed the two that would eventually be at Jesus' right and left. 

If they only knew what they were asking they would have never asked it.  If they only understood these three predictions of death, they might would have stopped following.  They probably would have gone home; given up; and continued life as they knew it before they were called by Christ.  But they did not get it.  Just didn't understand exactly how things would happen.

So he calls them all together and tells them the way things should be.  “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.

Not so with you... Hear these words.  These are the words that Jesus uses to turn everything upside down.

This is the way the world works... Not so with you.

This is the way the world defines strong... Not so with you.

This is how the world defines first... Not so with you.

This is how the world defines rich... Not so with you.

This is how the world defines righteous... Not so with you.

This is how the world defines religious... Not so with you.

Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.

If you want to be great among my followers you must be my followers' servant, but if you want to be great among everyone, must be a slave to everyone. 

But Jesus doesn't just tell his followers that they must.  He lets them know that he must also.  "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

And just five chapters later Jesus is hung on a cross.  Mark is clear to point out that on each side, his right and his left, a thief was also being crucified (those two having been prepared for those places).  Here was Jesus on a cross; a very brutal form a torture and death, bleeding, gasping for breath, hurting, in anguish, and pain.

And it was there on the cross that Jesus THE SON was in his GLORY.  It was there on the cross that Jesus took the greatest servant/slave role-- a role that only he could take. 

And in this flip flopped, turned upside down world the Jesus calls us to live, we must constantly look at the way the world defines things and remember four words. 

"Not so with you."

It is in these words that we find the Glory of Jesus.  

Other blogs 

Jeremy Schopper ----  https://ephesians411.wordpress.com/2014/06/03/1277/

Danny Holman  "The Jesus Challenge” ---- https://www.facebook.com/groups/jesuschallenge2013/permalink/646349375458917/

Carl Jenkins John 6:1-15. The feeding of the 5,000 ------ http://fromdustblog.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/give-a-man-a-fish/

Johnathan Dobbs  2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ----- http://mrjdobbs.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/why-me-god/ 

Scott Elliott  Luke 1:67-79. ----- http://resurrectedliving.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/the-beauty-of-the-gospel//

Chris Hodges  Matthew 17:1-8 - The Mount of Transfiguration  ----- https://chrisrhodges.com/2014/06/23/the-glory-of-the-son/

David Smith John 17.24-26 ----- http://preachersmith.com/2014/06/26/then-they-can-see-my-glory-which-you-gave-me/

Jeremy Hoover Matthew 10  ----- http://www.jeremyhoover.com/blog/matthew-and-mission

Allen Carr  Matthew 10:40-42 "The Glory in the Welcome" --- http://sacredmargins.com/2014/07/03/the-glory-in-the-welcome/

2014 The New Year

                “James... earn this. Earn it.”

                In the movie Saving Private Ryan,” as Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) is about to die and these are the words that he speaks to Pvt. James Ryan.  Miller and his special squad have wandered all over Europe looking for Ryan so that they could get him out of the war.  Miller is the last member of that squad and is now dying as they are being rescued and Ryan is being saved.

                “James... earn this. Earn it.”

                I usually think about this sometime before the New Year.  As many of us are thinking of resolutions and about how to better ourselves over the next year, how do you decide what your resolutions should be? Are there just one or two things about our life that we need to better or are there hundreds? Do we only choose 1 or 2 because 98 would be too many to work on? I wonder if I have ever kept a resolution to the year’s end. I wonder if my resolutions do any good.  If it is worth keeping for one year isn't it worth keeping for life? 

                I have no illusions about my life.  I know that I cannot earn, or even attempt to be good enough to be worthy of what Jesus did for me. I know that His life was more worthy than all of humanity. I know (even though I don't  always understand it) grace.           

                But this time of year I always ask myself, “Can I do better?” & “How much better can I do?”

                As a minister? As a Christ-follower? As a father? As a husband? As a Friend? As a brother? As a Son? Can I do better as a preacher? Bible class teacher?

                What do you ask yourself? As the calendar changes, don't worry so much about resolutions, but ask some questions.  Evaluate where you are and where you would like to be.  Make a plan, and stick to it. 

               The end of the movie always sticks with me.

 As Ryan approaches the grave of Miller he says this, "My family is with me today. They wanted to come with me. To be honest with you, I wasn't sure how I'd feel coming back here. Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. And I've tried to live my life the best I could. I hope that was enough. I hope that at least in your eyes, I've earned what all of you have done for me."

Really Busy??

Be Consistent.  This is one of the main rules of developing followers if you are going to Blog.  So this is what I am trying to do.  I have been trying to Blog Mondays and Thursdays.  I think I am going to change that to Tuesdays and Thursday.  But here is the reason I didn't blog yesterday.


After last weeks post of the notes from Jud Wilhite's talk at Catalyst Dallas.  You can read it here.  And a lot of prayer.  and a few moments of complete nervousness, and conversations with friends and mentors, and some deep moments of self doubt.  My wife and I have made an offer on a house.  As most of us know there are a lot of things that go with that so depending on how things go we may be home owners again relatively soon. Please pray that we have wisdom.

How do you make large decisions? What do you do to make sure you are being wise and following God's will?  What processes do you have in place?

Catalyst Notes: Jud Wilhite: Staying Grounded in Ministry

     Jud Wilhite’s (Senior Pastor of Central Christian Church, Henderson NV.) talk at Catalyst in Dallas was great.  It probably was a gut check to a number of ministers who are often hoping to move into larger and larger churches during their preaching careers.  Not all do, but there is a pull on many ministers that says that they are not successful unless they are at a larger church.  And so the question begs, “When are you then successful? When you are at the largest church in the world?”  If success depends on how many you are preaching to then you will never feel successful.  Jud Wilhite walked through II Corinthians 5:11-15 with us and reminded us to be present where God has called us to be.

2 Corinthians 5

-----New Living Translation (NLT)-----

11. Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. 12. Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. 13. If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. 14. Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

-----New Living Translation (NLT)-----

“God might not call you to a spectacular ministry, but will always call you to a faithful and sincere heart.” (v. 11-12)

Paul lets the Corinthians know that it is more important to have a sincere heart than it is to have a spectacular ministry.  He doesn’t say that spectacular ministries are wrong, just that our focus should be on having a sincere heart.

Jud reminded us that very few ministers will ever be able to work at large congregations.  The facts are simply that most churches are small.  We must measure our success first by having a faithful and sincere heart to God, and to where God has called us to be now.  Jud stated, “At the end of life nobody cares about the ministry scorecard.”

“Stay a little crazy for God” (v. 13)

Paul goes in to say that if what he is doing doesn’t make sense to them it is ok (v. 13).  They are doing things differently so that they can reach people with the message of Christ.

Jud had two great quotes on this point. 

• Sometimes you have to get down in the mess to help people get back on their feet.
• Ministry is messy, because sin is messy.

“Compelled by Christ”  (v.14-15)

It doesn’t matter if I appear crazy or if it all makes sense to you.  But what matters is that it is the love of Christ that controls or compels us. We no longer live for ourselves but instead we live and try to love others as Christ loves them. 

Jud reminded us all that no matter the size of our congregation or ministry,

 “Home is where God calls you to be.”

Have you made where you are home?  How do you fight the conflict between being present where you are and wanting to be more successful? Is there a to be content with where we are and have a holy discontent with the way things are? How do you stay focused on a sincere heart when the world screams we need a spectacular ministry/lifestyle/job/income? 

Maxwell's thoughts on life, #4 CatalystDallas

First, if you would like to read more fully what Maxwell meant with his personal definition of success, which I blogged about a few weeks ago, you can find it here on Maxwell’s blog.  He of course does a much better job with it than I did. 

Here is the fourth thought that Maxwell Shared with us at Catalyst. 

Follow the Rule of Five

The a good way to affectively meet your goals is to "Follow the Rule of Five." 

• Set a Goal
• Everyday do Five things that will help you accomplish that goal.

Maxwell gave the analogy of chopping down a tree. If you want to chop down a tree, then every day you should go out into the yard pick up the ax and swing it at the tree five times, put down the ax and go on about your day.  If you will do that, and do that every day, soon the question you begin to ask is “When will the tree fall?” and not “Will the tree fall?” 

Maxwell knew that he wanted to be a writer.  So he developed a Rule of Five to make sure that he became and continued to be a writer.  Every day he:

1.  Reads
2. Thinks
3. Files (illustrations, stories, things he could use in writing)
4. Asks questions of other people
5. Writes   

Then, Maxwell defined every day for us.  It means EVERYDAY.  Sundays? Yes.  Birthdays? Yes. Christmas? Yes.  Vacations? Yes.

“I don’t do them all day, I do them every day.”

Maxwell said that it took him six years to settle on these five things for his Rule of Five.

Do you have a routine?  How do you start your day? What do you do to make sure you meet your goals?  Are you a “to-do list person”?  What disciplines do you have in place to help you meet your goals? What are you intentional about?

What to improve -- Maxwell's third thought.

The 3rd “thought on life” that John Maxwell shared with us at Catalyst Dallas:

In abilities, work on your strengths,

In matters of choice, work on your weaknesses.

Although this is becoming a more popular thought in self-improvement, this is counter-intuitive for most of us.  Going through school I was always taught to get better at the things at which I am not good.  Maxwell makes a pretty compelling argument of why that is not necessarily the best option.

In abilities, work on your strengths.

In things that it takes a natural ability to ever be a master, you should work on your strengths.  If you rate yourself a 2 (out of 10) in something, then (unless you are the exception) you will probably never be an 8, 9, or 10.  However, if you are naturally a 5 or 6 at something, then over time, with practice and learning, you can become a 9 or 10. “God will never hold you accountable for a gift you don’t have.”

And of course if I know I am weak in a certain area, I am going to try to add someone to my team that is stronger in that area, to make up for my weaknesses. 

Also, if it is something I am passionate about, my level of ability will not stop me from working on it for my own enjoyment. I am still determined that one day I will play the guitar even though I can’t change chords and strum at the same time. I also enjoy playing recreational racquetball and volleyball, I will probably never be better than a “B” player, but I enjoy these things and they are for my personal fulfillment.

In matters of choice, work on your weaknesses.

In things at which you can choose to be better, work on your weakness.  Maxwell’s examples were Attitude and Discipline.  In both of these areas, with determination and focus you can go from a 1 to a 10.  IF I have a bad attitude or a lack of self-discipline, then over time with learning and practice I can become a 10.  We can choose to put different behaviors into our lives that will help us develop these things and go from bad to Great.

As someone who has wrestled with self-discipline most of my life, I was greatly encouraged by this for one reason: IT IS TRUE.  With help and some coaching I am turning my lack of discipline around.  I have always had just enough discipline to get by, but never enough to excel. As an example I look at my low High School GPA, 2.35 (inflated by several credits of band and other electives that were always A’s).  It was just enough to scrape by and graduate.  With work and help I have become much better and am still improving daily. 

What are your thoughts/reactions to this?  Do you know of an exception? In matters of abilities do you spend more time on your strengths or your weaknesses? Do you have a way of working on your weakness in the matters of choice category?  How many of you have someone who intentionally helps improve your life?  

How do I value others? Maxwell thought #2

I am Sharing my notes from the CatalystDallas conference

The second “thought on life” that Maxwell shared with us was:

Intentionally add value to others every day.

a.     The normal in our world is “Who will add value to me?”

b.    To add value to people you must value people.

c.     We either value or devalue people, there is no middle.

d.    Try to see Jesus as a value-er of people.

e.     Every morning ask yourself specifically.

                                                    i.     Who can I add value to today?

                                                  ii.     How can I do that?

f.      Every night ask yourself.

                                                    i.     Who did I add value to today?

                                                  ii.     How did I do it?

There are two kinds of people—

Those that lift others up, and those that lean down on others.

I am glad that he bases this on Christ.  And it was probably in this context that he stated that if we help others, others will help us.  It is all about adding value to others, and when we do this people will want to help us.  Others helping us is a byproduct of something we all should do anyway, but it is not the reason we do it. 

I like most of what Maxwell says.  HE reminds us that for most people this doesn't just happen, but you must be intentional and MAKE it happen.  Making yourself ask these two questions every morning and evening, causes you to start thinking intentionally. 

How do you add value to people? Do you do it intentionally? or it just in your nature? Are you naturally someone who lifts others up or leans down on others? If I am naturally a leaner, how do I become a lifter?

Maxwell's Thoughts for Life: Thought 1

John Maxwell’s talk was incredibly practical. I will continue my notes here:

He then began talking, spewing out great information in what he called just “Thoughts for Life.”  (There were five of them I will share them one post at a time.  It’s just too much for one post.)

Thought 1: You need to define a personal definition of success.

Maxwell encouraged us to develop a personal definition of success, rather than always chasing the ever-changing world’s definition.  We must answer the question, “What is success for me?”  

He answered them for himself.  And says that he is successful if he:

1.      Knows his purpose in life.

a.      What am I passionate about?

b.      What are my gifts, abilities, and strengths?

c.      What do I do well?

2.      Is growing to his max potential personally.

3.      Sowing seeds that benefit others.

I find the second one a little frustrating.  It’s just not measurable.  So maybe it would be better stated (and maybe he meant it this way) growing towards his max potential.

What do you think?

Do you have a “stated” definition of success?  Do you think we should?  Would you think defining our own success can help us keep from being caught up in the world's definitions? Can we have a stated definition and let the definition transform some over time?  What do you think of when you think success? What are your personal definitions of success?  

What Should I ask when I get the chance. Maxwell Pt 1.

I will begin blogging through my CatalystDallas experience.  I want to start with John Maxwell’s talk.  It will be more than one post. 

               I have been for a long time, a fan of John Maxwell and his writing.  I had never had the opportunity to hear him speak until this conference.  For that I am sorry.  I read his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership shortly after it was released in 1998 as a 21 year old.  It has probably been as formational in my development as any other single book. 

               Maxwell started by acknowledging that he had a short time to speak and would like to convey as much useful information to us as he could.   And then he opened a fire hydrant and let his wisdom flow.  It was too much to try to drink from, so I took notes knowing I would have to unpack it later. 

               He began with seven questions he would ask a leader if he were given the opportunity to sit down with them for a few minutes. 

1.      What is the greatest lesson you ever learned?

2.      What are you learning now?

a.    Maxwell stated that this question would bring out what they are passionate about.

3.      How has failure shaped your life?

a.    “Sometimes we win, sometimes we learn”

b.    Maxwell is obviously a man who has learned to see failure as opportunities for growth. 

c.    I am reminded that we should follow all our failures with the question, “What did I learn from that experience?”

4.      Who do you know that I should know?

a.    I am reminded that if relationships will help me be able to tell more people the message of Christ, then I need to foster relationships better than I do.  

5.      What have you read that I should read?

6.      What have you done that I should do?

7.      How can I add value to your life?

a.    “If you help others get what they want, they will want to help you get what you want.”

What do you think? Are there any of these questions you would not ask? Are there questions you would add to this list?  Do any of these questions rub you the wrong way? What do you think of # 4 & #7?

False Start

OK so I am calling a false start on myself.  On Wednesday I wrote a post saying that I would begin blogging again on Thursday.  As is obvious to you by now I did not begin blogging on Thursday.  I instead decided to wait and try to begin on Monday.  So my goal for now will be to blog twice a week. probably Monday and Thursday mornings.  This will give us time to discuss each of the posts.  I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you and I ask you to invite your friends and family to come along with us.  Once again, I apologize for not getting started when I said I would.  I am thoroughly looking forward to Monday.

A New Begining

It is hard to believe it has been 18 months since I agreed to come partner with the Kingsville Church of Christ.  It has also been that long since I last blogged.  I will begin blogging again, now.  I have no illusions of a great mass of people that will be regularly reading this.  For the few who do I just want to share with you my journey.  I pray that you would feel free offer comments and suggestions as I live and write.  I hope this becomes a community of people who can openly and honestly ask questions and discuss issues that arise in our lives.

 I went to Catalyst Dallas this weekend and was very impressed by the entire few days.  It was extremely well done and I must thank @bradlomenick and his team for all the work that they are doing.  Over the next several days/weeks, I will be blogging about my experience at catalyst, the talks I heard, and the lessons I learned.  Hopefully you will work with me as I process all that has happened over the last week.

And then come along with me on a journey as we process together this wild ride called following Christ.

Great weekend

Lauri and I had a great visit with a great church this past weekend.  We are now praying for our future and their future.  It felt relaxed and like family even though it was supposed to be a interview.  God has great things in store for the Kingsville Church of Christ.

Daniel

Our Worship

Because of the shifting climate of our culture, the changing of modernity into that which comes next (post-modernity?), and the nature of people that have grown up in a society of bigger is better and more exciting is more desirable, there is a move for us as ministers to help people experience worship instead of simply participate in it. My first exposure to a move toward experiential worship was by Leonard Sweet, who teaches that our worship needs to become EPIC: Experiential Participatory Image driven and Connective. It is with this and some of Sweet’s other writings in mind that I first opened up to the idea of experiential worship.

I believe that God made us to be tactile creatures. In instituting the Passover, God ordained the using of all of our senses to remember the salvation that came from the blood of the lamb which was spread on the doorpost of the Israelites’ home while in Egypt. The smell of the bread baking, the taste of the saltwater, or vinegar, the telling and hearing of the story, the feel of unleavened matzo in the mouth, and the sight of something very different than most nights, all lean toward God wanting His story told in a way that would not be forgotten because it was so fully experienced.

Our worship has become the opposite of this intense experience. Our worship has become something we do to fulfill a requirement and not something in which we honestly engulf ourselves. While most of us still do participate in a continuation of the Passover in the form of The Lord’s Supper, even in our Communion, we often rush. We need to find ways to create sacred experiences; celebrations, laments, and services that lead us into knowing God more fully.

If we are to engage our world, and especially our young people, then alternative forms of worship need to be explored. The way we look at the world has changed. People are questioning the facts and beliefs that we have held as the fabric of life and Godliness. We need to help them engage in the One True God. This is not a cheap way to entertain people so they like us better or feel better when they leave. It is a way of helping people, both alone and within community, come face to face with God. As we grow to know God more fully this worship is a way to help people leave our community of believers and go into the world knowing that serving God means serving others, that loving God means loving others, and that the light of the Creator God should flow through us into the world.

What time is it.

I just wrote this for a class, thought I would share it. It is in response to a question about the intersection of faith and culture.

Wow is right. I see that we are at a really neat place in history. The way we as the leaders of Christian church in America treat the next ten to twenty years will determine whether or not Christianity can grab ahold in this culture. We are in a time period where people are questioning everything including the things that at the very fiber of who we are has simply been assumed.

I think it is great. We have a product that is THE TRUTH. It answers all questions. It weathers all storms. It puts out all flames. It quenches all thirsts and fills every hungry belly. God is the answer.

We must though take an honest look at how we have presented God to the world in the past. We must check, double check, and even have our friends check to see if the way we are living stands up to what we are teaching. God is perfect, the way we do Christianity is not. God is perfect, the way we do church is not. God is perfect, the way we live our lives is not. We must stop faking it. I don't know is a viable answer. Faith by definition is an -- "I don't know, but I know" -- kinda answer.

We must hold to the absolutes that we know. Before we can do that we have to honestly look at what is an absolute and what is not. Looking at the far ends of the spectrum and working our way to the middle. There is a God -- I don't have to wear a tie in worship to serve God. Now start working your way to the middle. We should then focus on the absolutes.

Once we have done this we focus on what God focused on. We should all conclude to focus on Love or relationship -- which entails love. If we major in what Christ majored in and focus on grace and love, the world we live in will come to know Christ. Christianity may look different than it has for the last several hundred years, but people will follow Christ.

Bread

Every weekend our children's home goes to a local grocery store and picks up their day old bakery items. We take all that we can use. Then, we give away what we can according to our agreement with the grocery store. Next, we store the bread in a closet. Every Thursday or Friday we throw away what is left. Sometimes it is only a little, often it is a lot. It is great that the grocery stores are willing to let an agency like ours have this bread, but so much of it, still gets thrown away and there are still people who are hungry.

This weekend as I threw away the old and went and picked up the new, I thought of Jesus - The Bread of Life. No matter how much of Jesus we use through the week, there is still a lot of Jesus left over. And there are a lot of starving people. Lets do what we can to spead THE BREAD around this week. No matter how much we spread there will be more Jesus left than we could ever imagine.

Baseball and Church

Ok, I am officially tired of baseball. I get so frustrated. I am sick about it. Don't get me wrong I love the game. There is just something so cool about something with so much history and so much fun. A day at a real ballpark with your family while costly is very relaxing.

What I don't understand though is the refusal to go to instant replay. In tonight's game six of the NLCS a batter was hit by a pitch but the umpire called it a wild pitch which means the guy on third base could run home. If it was called a hit batter then the batter would go to first, but the runner could not come home. On replay, he was clearly hit. Major League Baseball has forgotten the purpose of the umpire -- to get the calls right. In their stubbornness they hold on to being "pure" and refuse to use instant replay which would arguably speed the game up not slow it down. I don't suggest they use replay or computers to make every call but something has to change. No one can argue that instant replay would get more calls wrong or that it would hurt the umpires in fulfilling their purpose.

It reminds me of something we do in church. So many of our congregations forget our purpose -- to help non Christians come to know Christ and to help us all grow closer, to each other and to God. Sometimes we get so caught up in tradition that we refuse to change and to do things will help us become more welcoming to outsiders. We have to be willing to look at how we do what we do and decide if there is a way to do it that will help us connect to non-churched people. The function of church, -its purpose- needs to be a constant steady thing over time. The form of church- how we do the function- needs to be fluid and moving so that we can fulfill our mission. I have spoken to members of churches that say, "we do it this way because it is what we like. Doing it the other way isn't sinful and might help us reach people, but we don't really like it." The congregations have forgotten their purpose.

I'll still watch baseball. I'll still be in church Sunday Morning. I love baseball. I love my church.

God, Please help me be open and fluid to your will in my life. Help me keep my eyes and heart focused on you and let your love flow through me to the world.