When Obama lost in New Hampshire I said I was more disappointed about that then when on the same night (or a night close to it) Ohio State lost in the National Title game, which is saying a lot since I like the Bucks so much. Last night Obama lost some pretty big states, but does that make me depressed? Well of course I wished he would have won, but how could I be depressed when I got to hear Walter Bruggemann speak at MVNU last night. Hearing someone talk about the Kingdom of God and the other way of life it gives provides so much hope that nothing, especially your favorite political candidate losing, could ever have the possibility of taking that away from you.
Hears to imagining and living the Kingdom life regardless of who lives in the White House!
Also, thanks to all those who supported and/or voted for the MRDD Levy. It only passed by 286 votes here in Knox County, but we’ll take it. Obviously my family has a vested interest in our local board of MRDD, but as I have learned over the last several years we all really have a vested interest in it.
Here’s to people with disabilities showing us the Kingdom of God!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
No Singing
This Sunday for our service we're not going to be doing any singing. The reason being that our normal musicians are out of town and our backup is sick. I normally try to convince people who hate leading music to lead in these situations but I won't do that anymore. Also I've wanted to do this for awhile now anyway to try to expand our view of what corprate worship can be. The reason I post this is to see if any of you out there have any ideas for what we should do besides singing and the normal preaching. I have some ideas, but if you have any please give them to me.
Friday, February 15, 2008
MRDD Levy
The other day I had a conversation with a friend about whether or not he should vote for the local MRDD levy. At first the question for him was not whether he should vote yes or no, but whether or not he should even vote. I have many friends, who I respect greatly, who chose for religious reasons not to participate in our elections. My friend fits this bill, but was wondering if voting for levies for important things such as supporting the local board of MRDD was something completely different than voting for a politician.
He then told me he wondered how he would even vote if he did even chose to vote on the levy. He considers himself more of a libertarian (I think that partially means the less taxes the better) and was wondering if taxing the general public was the best way to help support those who are supported by the board of MRDD. (This guy is a very good guy and would never ever do anything to hurt those with disabilities.) He then wondered allowed if maybe the church should be the one taking care of those with disabilities and not the government.
This gets me to my point (finally!). I’ve heard Christians talk my entire life about how welfare is bad because the Church should be the ones taking care of those needs and that the Church should take back over that role. My question is in God’s dream for His creation does He dream for the Church to take care of the least of these or does He dream for all of humanity, including the church, to do that? Some how I think it makes God happier when an entire city, county, state, or country decides to do something together to help out the cause of the widow, orphan, or alien than if the church just decided to do something.
So what’s wrong with us going to the voting booth on voting day and as a county saying we want to support an organization that helps out people with disabilities? Sure the Church should be helping out as well, but I’m sure God smiles when the rest of humanity gets something right as well. I mean shouldn’t Christians be thrilled when we see the world catching a partial vision of the Kingdom of God and shouldn’t we get involved in those efforts to bring a more holistic perspective to them?
Just some thoughts… hope they made sense.
He then told me he wondered how he would even vote if he did even chose to vote on the levy. He considers himself more of a libertarian (I think that partially means the less taxes the better) and was wondering if taxing the general public was the best way to help support those who are supported by the board of MRDD. (This guy is a very good guy and would never ever do anything to hurt those with disabilities.) He then wondered allowed if maybe the church should be the one taking care of those with disabilities and not the government.
This gets me to my point (finally!). I’ve heard Christians talk my entire life about how welfare is bad because the Church should be the ones taking care of those needs and that the Church should take back over that role. My question is in God’s dream for His creation does He dream for the Church to take care of the least of these or does He dream for all of humanity, including the church, to do that? Some how I think it makes God happier when an entire city, county, state, or country decides to do something together to help out the cause of the widow, orphan, or alien than if the church just decided to do something.
So what’s wrong with us going to the voting booth on voting day and as a county saying we want to support an organization that helps out people with disabilities? Sure the Church should be helping out as well, but I’m sure God smiles when the rest of humanity gets something right as well. I mean shouldn’t Christians be thrilled when we see the world catching a partial vision of the Kingdom of God and shouldn’t we get involved in those efforts to bring a more holistic perspective to them?
Just some thoughts… hope they made sense.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Abortion
Had some interesting conversations about the abortion issue lately, and none specifically about the politics of it. I’ve been a life begins at conception kind of guy for as long as I remember and don’t really believe abortion should ever happen with the possible exception of saving the mother’s life.
Yet I have good Christian friends who disagree with me. Some who think abortion should at least always be legal and others who find it morally acceptable until the egg implants in the uterus. I also have friends whose ideas fall in other places within the debate.
I have been left in a fog after these conversations. I’m confused about my beliefs: where are the source of my beliefs, why do I feel so passionately about them, and do I have any room for change? I’m confused about what role the church should play in these discussions: do we demand a certain belief in practice, do we leave room for honest discussion on the issues, and can we agree to disagree on such a difficult issue? I’m confused about why we even have the discussion: Are we trying to make something morally acceptable that is truly not just because it makes our lives easier by being able to control our ability to reproduce in such a direct way.
Do I try to speak prophetically against abortion from conception even though I know I will be speaking to people who honestly disagree with me? Or do I invite discussion on the issue knowing full well that through the discussion many people may take the opposing viewpoint from mine.
Abortion is such a difficult issue. It is so complex. For many it is so personal. I wish I knew how to handle it.
Yet I have good Christian friends who disagree with me. Some who think abortion should at least always be legal and others who find it morally acceptable until the egg implants in the uterus. I also have friends whose ideas fall in other places within the debate.
I have been left in a fog after these conversations. I’m confused about my beliefs: where are the source of my beliefs, why do I feel so passionately about them, and do I have any room for change? I’m confused about what role the church should play in these discussions: do we demand a certain belief in practice, do we leave room for honest discussion on the issues, and can we agree to disagree on such a difficult issue? I’m confused about why we even have the discussion: Are we trying to make something morally acceptable that is truly not just because it makes our lives easier by being able to control our ability to reproduce in such a direct way.
Do I try to speak prophetically against abortion from conception even though I know I will be speaking to people who honestly disagree with me? Or do I invite discussion on the issue knowing full well that through the discussion many people may take the opposing viewpoint from mine.
Abortion is such a difficult issue. It is so complex. For many it is so personal. I wish I knew how to handle it.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Where do we place our hope?
I just finished replying to the second email I received in the past week that tries to make you worry that Barack Obama is possibly a radical Muslim. It talks about the Muslim influence in his life, how he got sworn in using the Koran, and how he doesn’t say the pledge of allegiance. Almost all of the email is completely false including the part that says snopes.com backs it all up.
It isn’t the first time I’ve gotten this kind of email. I remember getting them about Clinton, Gore, and Kerry. What I really hate is how they are most likely created by Christians and are passed around by Christians (to be fair, both people who sent me the email were doing it for research purposes because they know I like Obama and they wanted to know if the stuff was true or not.) The real reasons these emails get created and passed around is that we want them to be discredited so that the candidate we support will be elected.
And we have good reasons why we want our candidate to get elected. We think they are the Christian candidate and can lead our country back to where it should be at. Thus, we gossip and lie (very non-Christian things to do) because we want a Christian to be elected because we think it will help the cause of Christ in this country and around the world to have a Christian (narrowly defined) living in the White House. By acting in ways that betray Christ to get a politician elected we ultimately show where our hope lies and it is not in Christ.
Even though we say we are doing what we are doing for Christ, we indeed show that we don’t really have the trust and faith in Christ that we really want our country to have. As Christians we should support who we think would be the best president for our country, but with a healthy dose of reality that will tell us that they can’t fix America. There is only one King and we should never betray Him, even if we say we are only betraying Him to help Him.
While I’m preaching, though mostly to the choir, I should point out how hard this is for me. I really don’t like Hillary Clinton all that much. I choose not to hear her speak or read articles that I know will cast her in a positive light. Why? When I really think about I think it is because I want my negative views about her reinforced and I don’t want to hear anything good about her because then it will be harder to hate her. Isn’t part of our job as Christians to see the good in people (the image of God) and honor that which of it we see and not to magnify the bad we see in them? We like to make people worse than they are so that it will be easier to do mean things to them.
This is going to be hard for me, but this election year, I am going to try my hardest to see the best in every candidate, and not try to destroy any of them. Does that mean I won’t critique their policies or leadership abilities? No. But it does mean I will value them as the beloved of my Creator and honor them because they are bearers of His image.
It isn’t the first time I’ve gotten this kind of email. I remember getting them about Clinton, Gore, and Kerry. What I really hate is how they are most likely created by Christians and are passed around by Christians (to be fair, both people who sent me the email were doing it for research purposes because they know I like Obama and they wanted to know if the stuff was true or not.) The real reasons these emails get created and passed around is that we want them to be discredited so that the candidate we support will be elected.
And we have good reasons why we want our candidate to get elected. We think they are the Christian candidate and can lead our country back to where it should be at. Thus, we gossip and lie (very non-Christian things to do) because we want a Christian to be elected because we think it will help the cause of Christ in this country and around the world to have a Christian (narrowly defined) living in the White House. By acting in ways that betray Christ to get a politician elected we ultimately show where our hope lies and it is not in Christ.
Even though we say we are doing what we are doing for Christ, we indeed show that we don’t really have the trust and faith in Christ that we really want our country to have. As Christians we should support who we think would be the best president for our country, but with a healthy dose of reality that will tell us that they can’t fix America. There is only one King and we should never betray Him, even if we say we are only betraying Him to help Him.
While I’m preaching, though mostly to the choir, I should point out how hard this is for me. I really don’t like Hillary Clinton all that much. I choose not to hear her speak or read articles that I know will cast her in a positive light. Why? When I really think about I think it is because I want my negative views about her reinforced and I don’t want to hear anything good about her because then it will be harder to hate her. Isn’t part of our job as Christians to see the good in people (the image of God) and honor that which of it we see and not to magnify the bad we see in them? We like to make people worse than they are so that it will be easier to do mean things to them.
This is going to be hard for me, but this election year, I am going to try my hardest to see the best in every candidate, and not try to destroy any of them. Does that mean I won’t critique their policies or leadership abilities? No. But it does mean I will value them as the beloved of my Creator and honor them because they are bearers of His image.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Preschool
Mandy and I started looking at preschools today for Lucy. She'll be three this summer so she could start next fall if we choose. The whole thought of her going to school for 2 1/2 hours day, four days a week makes me want to puke. She's so small and inocent. She's my little girl and I don't know if I could ever let her go to school.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Oh my goodness!
If you want to read a much better reason to vote for Obama check out this guys blog. He says what I wanted to say in my post a few down.
All aboard the Obama train! Get on now cause it ain't gonna be stopping any time soon!
All aboard the Obama train! Get on now cause it ain't gonna be stopping any time soon!
Paid Pastors?
In theory I agree with not having a full time paid pastor. I think having someone who is paid to do church keeps others from living out their full potential to be the church. Where I struggle is in the reality that most all of us do work full time jobs and can’t be there to be fulfill the pastor role during the day when someone needs a pastor in our church or in our neighborhood. I think our church is made up of tons of pastors, but none are available throughout the day to meet the needs that may or may not come up while everyone else is at work.
I almost wonder if it is a cultural thing because we are so stinking busy as a culture that we need to pay someone to be pastor while we are unavailable. Parts of me say we need to be prophetic in challenging the culture of busyness, but other parts of me say we need to be contextualizing the Gospel. Then on top of that who are we going to be prophetic to? Cause I’m not sure how we can tell people to stop being busy working two jobs when one job (in our Walmart world) doesn’t pay nearly enough for a family to survive, even without many luxuries.
On the other hand maybe we could find a new way of living together where we share more, work together more, and learn to be less busy together more. Then maybe some of these paid pastor questions would get a little bit clearer.
I almost wonder if it is a cultural thing because we are so stinking busy as a culture that we need to pay someone to be pastor while we are unavailable. Parts of me say we need to be prophetic in challenging the culture of busyness, but other parts of me say we need to be contextualizing the Gospel. Then on top of that who are we going to be prophetic to? Cause I’m not sure how we can tell people to stop being busy working two jobs when one job (in our Walmart world) doesn’t pay nearly enough for a family to survive, even without many luxuries.
On the other hand maybe we could find a new way of living together where we share more, work together more, and learn to be less busy together more. Then maybe some of these paid pastor questions would get a little bit clearer.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Why I support Barack Obama
Let me first say that I don’t put my hope in Obama or our political system. My hope is in God in all things, well at least I try to put my home in God in all things. I just think Obama offers the best hope in a broken system.
Let me then tell you some of my history. My dad was and always will be a politician at heart. He was a State Representative in Ohio for 3 term and held various other local offices while I was growing up in their household. He still helps candidates he believes in get elected to local offices through ingenious grassroots campaigning. My dad knows what he is doing on the local office and I mean that. If you ever want to get elected at the local level you need to give him a call.
Because I was raised in that environment I not only have a deep interest in politics, but also a deep hatred of it. I think my dad was the best politician I ever met and I wouldn’t trade the experiences I had because of it for the world. But I also saw the evil side of it up close. I saw how negative campaigning not only hurts the candidate, but also hurts their kids. Calling a candidate “Tax Man Peterson” becomes really personal to the candidates fifth grade son. Watching your dad lose party support and money, in other words getting abandoned by them, because he votes his conscience on one vote makes one to be very cynical about the whole process. Politics is dirtier than dirt and I saw it first hand.
So why do I like Obama? He seems to be above so much about what I hate. Yes, he is critical of his opponents at times, but more often than naught he talks about what he is for and not what he is against. He is trying hard to speak to all people, not just Democrats. I voted Republican in the last two elections (I’m sorry) so you know some of the hot button issues I believe in. But to be honest he probably doesn’t even agree with me exactly on those issue, but I think he hears me (or people like me) on those issues and will somehow have the ability to bring us together to figure stuff out.
What I hated about the Bill Clinton years (and this is not a slam on Hillary) is that there was always so much divisiveness between the parties when he was president. And then these last eight years with W there has been nothing but divisiveness between the parties. All they do is fight with each other because they represent their power bases on the far extremes and so they never work together and refuse to compromise or even really discuss the issues. They demonize the people on the other side of the aisle and use the power of fear to get things done.
Obama, true enough, sees things more from the left and if you believe some, maybe even the far left. But I don’t care. Heck I wouldn’t care if he saw things from the far right. When I hear him speak and act and by looking at his record he really seems as he wants to listen to all people and work for all people. The last eight years W’s strategy, as lead by Rove, was to play to his power base – the Christian Evangelicals. Even thought that may fit me, that’s not what this country needed. We need someone to play to the entire country as much as possible. Now I know most of you are thinking I’m dreaming when I say this stuff and maybe I am. But I honestly think he has the desire to do this and even a good chance at getting it done.
Obama really seems to be post partisan and post racial. I think if he gets the nomination he’ll win the general in a landslide and be able to have the mandate to actually bring people together across party lines. He is a black man, which I think we would be good for America, but he doesn’t seem to want to be a president just for blacks, but for all of us. That’s because he operates out of a spirit of hope and not guilt.
And of course in all of this I do realize he could be full of hot air, but in all honesty this is the first presidential candidate I have ever been excited about. I’m actually even considering a small, very small, token amount to his campaign. And that’s with having sworn long ago never to give money to a politician.
So am I saying issues don’t matter? No, cause I seem to agree with him more than I disagree with him and I agree with him more than I agree with anyone else. But you know sometimes your style of leadership is truly an issue. From a pastoral point of view you can preach priesthood of all believers all you want but if your church only sees you doing priestly stuff then what are you really communicating? The way you lead truly tells what you believe in your gut.
Miscellaneous things I like about him:
-He turned down a Supreme Court Clerkship (very prestigious and very hard to get) out of law school so they he could go work for the poor in Chicago.
-Only recently did him and his wife get out from under student loans. This guy’s really got to understand my situation!
-I love listening to him speak.
-Martin Luther King’s Dream is starting to be realized in him: He’s not being judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.
-I think He could represent to the world the America I believe we are or at least could be.
And in all things as we get to know more about him I hope I will keep my mind open to change if necessary. But I really like this guy. I really hope he becomes president. He could be a bust, I realize that, but sometimes you see somebody and really believe he could be a different kind of leader and you can’t allow yourself to be cynical forever.
Well those are my rambling reasons why I’m supporting (at least for now) Barack Obama for President of the United State of America. I hope you all do the same, but if not we can all still be friends and work together to make the world we find ourselves in a little bit better.
Let me then tell you some of my history. My dad was and always will be a politician at heart. He was a State Representative in Ohio for 3 term and held various other local offices while I was growing up in their household. He still helps candidates he believes in get elected to local offices through ingenious grassroots campaigning. My dad knows what he is doing on the local office and I mean that. If you ever want to get elected at the local level you need to give him a call.
Because I was raised in that environment I not only have a deep interest in politics, but also a deep hatred of it. I think my dad was the best politician I ever met and I wouldn’t trade the experiences I had because of it for the world. But I also saw the evil side of it up close. I saw how negative campaigning not only hurts the candidate, but also hurts their kids. Calling a candidate “Tax Man Peterson” becomes really personal to the candidates fifth grade son. Watching your dad lose party support and money, in other words getting abandoned by them, because he votes his conscience on one vote makes one to be very cynical about the whole process. Politics is dirtier than dirt and I saw it first hand.
So why do I like Obama? He seems to be above so much about what I hate. Yes, he is critical of his opponents at times, but more often than naught he talks about what he is for and not what he is against. He is trying hard to speak to all people, not just Democrats. I voted Republican in the last two elections (I’m sorry) so you know some of the hot button issues I believe in. But to be honest he probably doesn’t even agree with me exactly on those issue, but I think he hears me (or people like me) on those issues and will somehow have the ability to bring us together to figure stuff out.
What I hated about the Bill Clinton years (and this is not a slam on Hillary) is that there was always so much divisiveness between the parties when he was president. And then these last eight years with W there has been nothing but divisiveness between the parties. All they do is fight with each other because they represent their power bases on the far extremes and so they never work together and refuse to compromise or even really discuss the issues. They demonize the people on the other side of the aisle and use the power of fear to get things done.
Obama, true enough, sees things more from the left and if you believe some, maybe even the far left. But I don’t care. Heck I wouldn’t care if he saw things from the far right. When I hear him speak and act and by looking at his record he really seems as he wants to listen to all people and work for all people. The last eight years W’s strategy, as lead by Rove, was to play to his power base – the Christian Evangelicals. Even thought that may fit me, that’s not what this country needed. We need someone to play to the entire country as much as possible. Now I know most of you are thinking I’m dreaming when I say this stuff and maybe I am. But I honestly think he has the desire to do this and even a good chance at getting it done.
Obama really seems to be post partisan and post racial. I think if he gets the nomination he’ll win the general in a landslide and be able to have the mandate to actually bring people together across party lines. He is a black man, which I think we would be good for America, but he doesn’t seem to want to be a president just for blacks, but for all of us. That’s because he operates out of a spirit of hope and not guilt.
And of course in all of this I do realize he could be full of hot air, but in all honesty this is the first presidential candidate I have ever been excited about. I’m actually even considering a small, very small, token amount to his campaign. And that’s with having sworn long ago never to give money to a politician.
So am I saying issues don’t matter? No, cause I seem to agree with him more than I disagree with him and I agree with him more than I agree with anyone else. But you know sometimes your style of leadership is truly an issue. From a pastoral point of view you can preach priesthood of all believers all you want but if your church only sees you doing priestly stuff then what are you really communicating? The way you lead truly tells what you believe in your gut.
Miscellaneous things I like about him:
-He turned down a Supreme Court Clerkship (very prestigious and very hard to get) out of law school so they he could go work for the poor in Chicago.
-Only recently did him and his wife get out from under student loans. This guy’s really got to understand my situation!
-I love listening to him speak.
-Martin Luther King’s Dream is starting to be realized in him: He’s not being judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.
-I think He could represent to the world the America I believe we are or at least could be.
And in all things as we get to know more about him I hope I will keep my mind open to change if necessary. But I really like this guy. I really hope he becomes president. He could be a bust, I realize that, but sometimes you see somebody and really believe he could be a different kind of leader and you can’t allow yourself to be cynical forever.
Well those are my rambling reasons why I’m supporting (at least for now) Barack Obama for President of the United State of America. I hope you all do the same, but if not we can all still be friends and work together to make the world we find ourselves in a little bit better.
This is odd...
I think I'm more upset about Barack Obama coming in second last night to Hillary Clinton than I am about Ohio State losing in the national championship game. I'm not sure what that says about me.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The Starfish and the Spider
I'm currently reading "The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations" and am enjoying every word of it. It's a leadership book, a genre I usually despise, but this one takes a look at things from such a fresh angle. It's not a "Christian" book (whatever that means), but I'm constantly left dreaming about how their thoughts could or would look in the Church.
The chapter I just finished reading, chapter three, was all about the benefits of decentralized organizations. It talked about things such as craigslist and wikipedia and about a festival in the Neveda desert called Burning Man. Each one of them is user driven, developed, and policed. Because of how they operate they end up giving the user more than a top down profit driven organization could ever give you. Here's a quote from the last paragraph of the chapter, "When you give people freedom, you get chaos, but you also get incredible creativity. Because everyone tries to contribute to the community, you get a great variety of expression."
As I read that I thought about Ben and Sarah who I'm a part of a church with. They are always dreaming about creative things they would like to do in the context of our lives together. This past fall they decided to have a harvest party. I think most of us who got invited thought it was a strange idea when we got invited and may have even made fun of the idea (I apologize). But when we showed up, in somewhat formal attire, for parlor games, old fashioned line dancing, and good food we all had a blast. Sarah even had a short, but profound, devotional about why we celebrate the harvest that I still think about months later.
What if church gave freedom for people to lead, create, and develop in this way. What if we all had the freedom to contribute in this way without having to go through a hiarchical structure first? A friend told me, "But Ben and Sarah are your friends, and friends always act in such a way." Exactly! What if as a church we adopted this for a model for how we lived life together? Where what Ben and Sarah did wasn't the exception, but the norm? Where it was understood that if no one is contributing then no one will receive anything? But this can't happen if the leader (me) expects everything to flow from him. This can only happen if everybody understands that everything flows from the leader (Jesus) who speaks to all, so all must be listened to and given the freedom to do new things.
A good friend once said, "Leadership in our context is someone taking the lead in a given area."
The chapter I just finished reading, chapter three, was all about the benefits of decentralized organizations. It talked about things such as craigslist and wikipedia and about a festival in the Neveda desert called Burning Man. Each one of them is user driven, developed, and policed. Because of how they operate they end up giving the user more than a top down profit driven organization could ever give you. Here's a quote from the last paragraph of the chapter, "When you give people freedom, you get chaos, but you also get incredible creativity. Because everyone tries to contribute to the community, you get a great variety of expression."
As I read that I thought about Ben and Sarah who I'm a part of a church with. They are always dreaming about creative things they would like to do in the context of our lives together. This past fall they decided to have a harvest party. I think most of us who got invited thought it was a strange idea when we got invited and may have even made fun of the idea (I apologize). But when we showed up, in somewhat formal attire, for parlor games, old fashioned line dancing, and good food we all had a blast. Sarah even had a short, but profound, devotional about why we celebrate the harvest that I still think about months later.
What if church gave freedom for people to lead, create, and develop in this way. What if we all had the freedom to contribute in this way without having to go through a hiarchical structure first? A friend told me, "But Ben and Sarah are your friends, and friends always act in such a way." Exactly! What if as a church we adopted this for a model for how we lived life together? Where what Ben and Sarah did wasn't the exception, but the norm? Where it was understood that if no one is contributing then no one will receive anything? But this can't happen if the leader (me) expects everything to flow from him. This can only happen if everybody understands that everything flows from the leader (Jesus) who speaks to all, so all must be listened to and given the freedom to do new things.
A good friend once said, "Leadership in our context is someone taking the lead in a given area."
Saturday, December 08, 2007
The role of the pastor
A friend this week wondered out loud in front of me if we have mistaken the call to preach with the call to run an organization (the church).
Myself and the church I am pastor of have been starting to ask similar questions. We are wondering and exploring if we need a full time paid pastor. We are contemplating me getting another job and no longer taking a salary, or at least a greatly reduced one. We are asking what church would look like then and if what it then looked like would be a good thing or not. It's not a question of how to save money or how to be a church the same way just without paying a pastor, but they are questions at the core of what it means for us to be a church and what it means for us to be the people of God in the West End of Mount Vernon. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Myself and the church I am pastor of have been starting to ask similar questions. We are wondering and exploring if we need a full time paid pastor. We are contemplating me getting another job and no longer taking a salary, or at least a greatly reduced one. We are asking what church would look like then and if what it then looked like would be a good thing or not. It's not a question of how to save money or how to be a church the same way just without paying a pastor, but they are questions at the core of what it means for us to be a church and what it means for us to be the people of God in the West End of Mount Vernon. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Why I hate watching sports.
Actually, the reason I hate watching sports is because I love it so much. I just got finished watching the Browns game that ended, in my opinion, on a terrible call. The call, which was a judgment call, cost the Browns the game. If the right call was made the Browns would have won the game and would have been in great position to make the playoffs, now getting into the playoffs are going to take some work. The reason I hate watching sports in that I got really fired up about that final call. How can a stupid game make me so mad. The official didn't make the wrong call on pupose, but in my mind I ripped him a new one.
And what's the worst injustice that I fight against lately? College footballs refusal to go to a playoff system. Because of money college football won't go to a playoff system that would allow all teams a chance to win it all instead of who the voters think should be in the national title game. I say screw the bowls and let's have a 16 team playoff system in place as soon as possible. I love telling people about it and I get really frustrated that the powers that be are so in love with money that they refuse to give the college football fan what they really want and really deserve. The injustice of it all.
I got issues. Sports shouldn't have that place in my life. They shouldn't be allowed to control my emotions in such a way. They should be fun to watch and should be left on the field. I should care about the true injustices in the world. As I write this I am watching sixty minutes which just had a story about Christians in Iraq, well there's really not many Christians in Iraq anymore. Before the invasion there were over a million, but because of intense persecution most are either dead now or refugees in Syrian ghettos.
I'm not saying I shouldn't watch sports or that I should let every injustice in the world constantly depress me, I just need to keep things in perspective. I got to work on my issues.
And what's the worst injustice that I fight against lately? College footballs refusal to go to a playoff system. Because of money college football won't go to a playoff system that would allow all teams a chance to win it all instead of who the voters think should be in the national title game. I say screw the bowls and let's have a 16 team playoff system in place as soon as possible. I love telling people about it and I get really frustrated that the powers that be are so in love with money that they refuse to give the college football fan what they really want and really deserve. The injustice of it all.
I got issues. Sports shouldn't have that place in my life. They shouldn't be allowed to control my emotions in such a way. They should be fun to watch and should be left on the field. I should care about the true injustices in the world. As I write this I am watching sixty minutes which just had a story about Christians in Iraq, well there's really not many Christians in Iraq anymore. Before the invasion there were over a million, but because of intense persecution most are either dead now or refugees in Syrian ghettos.
I'm not saying I shouldn't watch sports or that I should let every injustice in the world constantly depress me, I just need to keep things in perspective. I got to work on my issues.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Ron's Pizza
There's this pizza shop in town that has been around for over thirty years. A few months ago they were kicked out of their shop, so that it could be bull dozed and a strip mall could go where it once was. So for the last four months Mt. Vernon has had to go without Ron's Pizza while they converted an old gas station into their new shop. They finally opened again this week and the lines have been out the door. We just ordered a pizza tonight, but we're having to wait 2 hrs and 45 minutes for it and it'll be worth every minute.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
New Parents Meeting
Mandy and I, along with the kids, went to this meeting the other night that is for parent's of kids with down syndrome under three. This is the second time we have gone, but the first time we had time to stay and interact with the other parents and children. I just loved being there. I loved how everyone was so kind to one another and how people shared their joys and struggles and how we were able to be happy with those who were happy and be sad with those who were sad. I love interacting with other children who have down syndrome, I can't explain it but I am just drawn to them. I felt in some way that I was at church while I was there, just that no one mentioned God.
By the way my new favorite number is 47. If 47 chromosomes gave me Lucy, then that has to be the best number in the world. I want to get XLVII (Roman numerals for 47) tattooed on my right bicep. I want it on my bicep because I want it to symbolize a strength not a weakness. I just need to find a cool desing of it first. I somehow want to incorporate Lucy's name into it, her name means bearer of light, doesn't that just fit her. I would really like to get it done on Miami Ink as a way to promote down syndrome awareness. If anybody out there is a good artist, why don't you draw me up a few sketches and send them my way.
Sorry it's been so long...
By the way my new favorite number is 47. If 47 chromosomes gave me Lucy, then that has to be the best number in the world. I want to get XLVII (Roman numerals for 47) tattooed on my right bicep. I want it on my bicep because I want it to symbolize a strength not a weakness. I just need to find a cool desing of it first. I somehow want to incorporate Lucy's name into it, her name means bearer of light, doesn't that just fit her. I would really like to get it done on Miami Ink as a way to promote down syndrome awareness. If anybody out there is a good artist, why don't you draw me up a few sketches and send them my way.
Sorry it's been so long...
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Father's Day
So Mandy heard me talking about wanting an old push mower. I think it was one of those things that I like to talk about, but never plan on doing. So she bought me one for Father's Day. And actually it's pretty cool. Not only do I help save the planet, but everybody wanted to talk to me when they saw me cutting the yard with it. The best part is I can stop to talk without turning my mower off and I don't have to worry if it will start again.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Pancake Breakfast
Some from my church are going to New Orleans this summer on a work trip to help with the rebuilding and we are having a pancake breakfast to raise some funds. Now I know a bunch of you out there in blog land have been looking for a good excuse to come back and visit good ole Mt. Vernon. It's Saturday May 26th from 8 to 11 in the morning at Riverside Park. If you want tickets let me know and I'll tell you where to send a check. Even if you don't want to come you can still send a check made out to "West Side Church of the Nazarene" with New Orleans in the subject line (I ain't too proud to beg). And we might possibly have a spot or two open if someone wants to join us. We're going June 30th through July 8th.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)