Sacred Living: Reality

The title of this blog entry is the title of Sunday's sermon! I'm totally stoked about preaching this Sunday. I know that God is going to work in each of our lives through His word. As I've been preparing this message, I've had my mind go in a million directions. Who knows what will happen on Sunday...we could talk about backpacking, circumcision, sabbath, parties, reality television, Dr. Phil??? You'll just have to come and see what happens!

Stop Ag Park Re-Zoning

The following is a copy of a letter that I sent to the Delaware County Commissioners and County Council Members. I am deeply concerned for the well-being of the people in and around Shideler. As a Christian, I see a great need for social justice and reaching out to help those being oppressed and run over by governments. I feel that the reason for this re-zoning is purely greed-based. Will this Ag Park provide high-quality, high-paying jobs for residents of Delaware County? I'll be surprised if it does! I hope you will join in not letting this proposal go through. You can contact the Commissioners and Council Members via e-mail by visiting the website for Delaware County. Here is the letter I wrote:

I understand that the City-County Planning Commission will be voting on the re-zoning of property surrounding Shideler for the development of an Agricultural Park. I have read that this will bring money to Delaware County and hopefully generate employment for the residents of our county. As a Christian and person in ministry, I am deeply concerned about the well-being of the residents of Shideler and those in the areas close to the proposed Agricultural Park. I am concerned by the involvement of a very influential member of our County Council, Joe Russell. Though I understand he will not be voting, I know he does carry a lot of influence in our county government.

I hope the City-County Planning Commission has looked into the long-term effects of this proposal. Property values will decrease for homeowners in and around Shideler. Many of the Shideler residents do not have the means to re-locate if this proposal goes through. The amount of noise and other types of pollution cannot be calculated. Taxes will most likely increase to help with the costs of this project. The truth is, we do not know what the long term effects could be...water, air, soil pollution. I've seen the map of the proposed park and how it totally encloses this small community of Shideler. These people, these citizens of Delaware County deserve better!

The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church in Paragraph 160 says, "All creation is the Lord's, and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it. Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God's creation and not solely because they are useful to human beings. God has granted us stewardship of creation. We should meet these stewardship duties through acts of loving care and respect. Economic, political, social, and technological developments have increased our human numbers, and lengthened and enriched our lives. However, these developments have led to regional defoliation, dramatic extinction of species, massive human suffering, overpopulation, and misuse and overconsumption of natural and nonrenewable resources, particularly by industrialized societies. This continued course of action jeopardizes the natural heritage that God has entrusted to all generations. Therefore, let us recognize the responsibility of the church and its members to place a high priority on changes in economic, political, social, and technological lifestyles to support a more ecologically equitable and sustainable world leading to a higher quality of life for all of God's creation."

Let us be good stewards of the land. Let us help bring a higher quality of life to all of God's creation...not just Mr. Russell's pocketbook. The people of Shideler, and the surrounding area, stand to have their quality of life dramatically decreased with the development of the proposed Ag Park.

I urge you to use your influence as a county government official to stop this re-zoning!

MTV VMA's...What A Joke!

Last night, I painfully watched the MTV Video Music Awards. In the midst of watching the awards, I had a few things cross my mind:

1. Sean Combs, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, Diddy, whatever he's calling himself today, was an awful host. He is extremely self-centered, which was apparent throughout the show. And, he fed into the whole hip-hop gangsta culture that is ruling the MTV airways and producing a bunch of thug-like children who might be good kids if their role models wouldn't act like idiots all the time.

2. What is MASE doing hanging with 50-Cent? I hope MASE, the born-again rapper, is trying to bring Christ to G-Unit. The whole Fat Joe & 50-Cent making comments at and about each other...what a bunch of fools. Are you guys in the third grade? I mean, seriously, each of you have more money than you know what to do with...so, why do you try to be such tough thugs? I know, you sell more records when you create controversy.

3. MTV viewers must be mentally challenged. And, MTV executives that put various artists up for awards must be mentally challenged. The winners last night...some deserved it...But, Kelly Clarkson should never win any awards. And, Lindsay Lohan, Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff, Jesse McCartney, and any other actor-turned-pop star should not be eligible for awards.

4. R. Kelly? Absolutely hilarious! This dude is serious! I really hope MTV and VH-1 are only showing his latest video soap opera as a joke.

5. I appreciate various artist thanking God. However, when their songs talk about sex, drugs, and shooting other people...I wonder where God is in the creative process?

Anyway, I was very disappointed with this awards show. I enjoyed the Coldplay and Killers performance. But, it was as if the audience had no clue what to do when an actual band played. Oh well, who cares about the MTV Video Music Awards anyway?

Kneeling Christian

Last night, I started reading a book called "Kneeling Christian" by an unknown author. It was written years ago...but it speaks to my heart today. The basic theme of the book is talking about the importance of Christians kneeling in prayer...Thus, the title makes sense!

As I was reading, what really struck me was the authors call for Christians to pray more. Of course, he brought up the "pray without ceasing" passage of Scripture. However, he focused more on getting us into a time of prayer where we get serious with God. The author asked that the reader examine how much time they actually spend praying each day. Then, compare that to the amount of time we give to everything else in our daily lives! The author commented on how some in the church talk about praying at least ten minutes everyday. The author voices his disgust for just ten minutes of prayer. He says if we're serious about following God and truly receiving His blessings, we'll get serious about kneeling in prayer.

So, I started to think...How much time do I really spend in prayer each day? Then, compare that to how much time I spend reading, writing, watching TV, listening to music, and so on. Hmm. The author talks about how it doesn't really matter how long we read the Bible or how many church services we attend because those won't add up to much without a serious commitment to prayer.

I was reminded of my need to get serious about prayer. I need to spend a good portion of my day praying for the church, my wife, my family, my friend, those on the fringes...And, I need to take the time to listen while I pray. Sometimes I spend so much time talking that I'm too worn out to actually listen to what God might be saying in response.

Oh, one last thing I really like that the author said. He was talking about how the church really doesn't give serious time to real prayer. He sort of addressed how the prayers in our worship times are rather routine. He then talked of how many churches have weekly prayer meetings. He then said that maybe they should be called "weakly prayer meetings." Ever been to a prayer meeting? Did you spend the whole time in prayer?

Anyway, if you get a chance, you might check out this book. It's available for free at the CCEL site.

A Great Resource

I've been a big fan of this website, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, for quite some time. It's a great resource for sermon preparation, as it has a great Bible reference collection. Basically, it's an on-line library of public domain Christian literature and resources. You can download free e-books or simply read through things while on-line. I'd encourage you to check it out!

Thoughts from My Morning Prayer Time

This morning as I was praying, a couple of things hit me.

I was reading through a prayer guide and it was stressing our need to acknowledge how we truly are...Are you light-hearted, peaceful, joyful, frustrated, disappointed, angry? After asking this, it encouraged the reader to tell God how you really are. The guide reminds the readers that "It is the real me that the Lord loves."

This reminded me of our need to be honest, not only in our prayers, but also in our worship and our daily interactions. So often, we put on a happy face, we turn that frown upside-down and present ourselves as being okay when maybe we're dying inside. Some may know that I've been frustrated about a few things lately. This morning, I was reminded that it is okay to be frustrated. But, I need to be taking my frustrations to God in prayer. I need to let Him know how I'm truly feeling.

Then, this mornings Scripture came from John 1:45-51. It's the story of Jesus calling Philip and Nathanael. In the story, Philip encounters Jesus and immediately goes to find Nathanael to let him know that he has found the Messiah. Nathanael is skeptical...Philip urges him, "Come and see!" So, Nathanael goes and meets Jesus face to face and is forever changed.

This passage reminded me of my need to invite others to "come and see." Sometimes, I use various issues as an excuse not to invite others to "come and see." I feel like we've got to have things perfect in our services before I invite others to come along. How ridiculous is that? God is going to do what He needs to do in a persons life regardless of how perfect or imperfect our ministries are! It's like I've had this attitude that God can't invade the lives of my friends unless we've got our stuff together.

Now, there is a need for us to be relevant to the needs of those around us...So, I'm not saying that we shouldn't make changes and do our best to reach those in our community in effective ways. I'm just saying that I shouldn't use our current state as an excuse to not invite others to "come and see."

The Topaz Rocks!

Well, for those of you that know Emily and me...you know that we've not had the greatest experience with vehicles throughout our married life. Our 1993 Mercury Topaz was out-of-commission for the better part of last year. And, this summer, we had a ridiculous amount of problems with the Intrepid.

Last night, we went to Greenville, Ohio to pick up the Topaz from Buzz (a friend of Emily's family). We took the car over last week...both Em and I were surprised the car made it. Buzz went to work and performed a miracle because the Topaz is running incredibly! We're pretty stoked to have two cars again! We pretty much shared the Intrepid all year...It will be weird for both of us to have a vehicle to use.

So, when you see the silver Topaz rockin' through the streets of Muncie, raise your fist to the air and shout, "Topaz!" The car will appreciate it because it has a rock n' roll attitude!

Why We Should Think Before We Speak

Oh, how I love our conservative Christian leaders!

Check this out: Pat Robertson on CNN

What?

It's just after 8am and I'm sitting in a coffee shop trying to figure out what I'm going to write about for this months church newsletter. I'm not really sure what I want to write about...and, it's way too early for me to be productive.

Yesterday, at church, someone asked me to make sure their husband stayed awake. I informed the person that I was not the person for that task...That if the established church took people like me into consideration, the early service would be at 1:30pm...just after a big community lunch. But, hey, 8am works too, I guess.

So, honestly, I'm just rambling...hoping that as I sit here typing away that something might pop into my head for my newsletter article. Hmm...

Check This Out

Want to see what happens to churches that fail to move forward? Though this article is truly sad, it should serve as a reminder to those of us involved in ministry that we have to be willing to take risks and move forward to avoid dying off.

Church Closing

I've been doing some thinking and planning for a two-week sermon series I'll be doing in September. Yep, I finally get to preach again...And, I get two consecutive weeks! I almost wonder if this is a sign of the apocalypse. I'll have to consult my Bible and the works of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. I'm joking...which I hope is obvious.

I'm not sure if I actually remember how to work on a sermon, as it's been so long. And, getting two weeks in a row is pretty new territory for me in my post-youth pastor days. In the past, I was used to doing the majority of the preaching in the ministry I was involved with. Being in the role of an associate pastor is quite difficult. Having to come in and do one sermon every now and then is sort of odd...at least for me. So, getting two weeks in a row is a rare treat for me these days.

So, I obviously want to have two quality weeks, with a solid theme, and strong message from God. Lately, He's been pressing this idea of "Sacred Living" on my heart. I believe I would take us through the book of Colossians in this series.

But, I'm open to His leading. I just know I need to do my part and prepare as best I can and then allow Him to speak through me. Whether it's what I have planned out or what He puts on my heart in the moment, I just want to communicate His word.

Any suggestions or ideas for a two-week sermon series?

something

Well, Caleb and I have decided what to call this new Bible study, fellowship, and worship community..."something." Yep, we are calling it something! It's great! "So, what are you doing next Wednesday?" one friend asks the other..."Oh, something. Do you want to come to something with me?" the friend replies.

Please keep something in your prayers as we venture out and explore new territory.

In the Morning...

Feelin' half-right!

Ever have one of those mornings where you wake up and say to yourself, "Self, this isn't right! Something in the world must be out of whack. There is no way I should be up at this moment in time."? Today is one of those days for me...

I hardly slept last night. I was uncomfortable. I was hot. I just couldn't sleep...Not that I didn't want to...it was just not working for me.

So, this morning I borrow some Built to Spill lyrics to describe how I'm feeling..."In the morning, feelin' half-right."

Working On A Headache

It's amazing how I can so easily drive myself into the horrible land of headaches simply by thinking about things.

Today, my headache is mainly coming forth as I think about church stuff. Yesterday was a rough one at our 10am worship gathering. In fact, my Aunt Lela said, "I'm tired of this." I'm pretty sure that's the first time in her 97 years that she's said anything along those lines. When our guest speaker finished, Aunt Lela said, "Oh, go jump in a lake." That's her way of expressing her displeasure with the mornings worship service.

And, it wasn't just good old Aunt Lela that struggled through the service. I heard many comments from many people stating that they had a hard time sitting through the service.

Now, here's the thing...it's not that our guest speaker wasn't saying good stuff...everything she presented was valid and good information for people to hear. But, it was definitely not Sunday morning worship service appropriate. It would have been better to have had this presentation made at a time outside of the service. People came to church wanting to receive a word of encouragement, inspiration, even challenge and instead received information about the global state of aging adults. Again, let me say...it was valid and important information...just not what people are looking for when they attend a worship service.

This only highlights my issues of how we need to be doing things differently. I see things we need to be addressing (this is where the headache comes into play), have ideas of how to address the issues, and yet we take way too long to even approach the idea of beginning to address the issues. I had great hopes for our staff retreat! I thought we would put together some concrete plans of how to lead our congregation forward. However, we just did some abstract brainstorming and spilled out some ideas. So, we still don't have a plan together to help us move forward. And, as we take our brainstorming to our leadership team, it will be another six months before we have any kind of plan together to start moving in the direction God is calling us toward. As we continue to drag our feet, we continue to loose people. By not changing, by not moving forward we are simply standing still. But, as we all know, if you stand still...you're actually moving backwards as the rest of the world goes flying by.

I would have been satisfied if as a staff we had simply put together a preaching schedule so we would know what themes we'll be addressing and who is preaching from Sunday to Sunday. That would help our worship design team plan. It would help people feel like we have some kind of vision as to where we need to head. I just really feel strongly that as the leadership of the church we need to be putting solid plans together. After we have a plan together, we need to present it to our leaders for them to make suggestions, corrections, and additions. Maybe I'm totally wrong here. All I know is that the more I think about this...the worse my headache gets.

So, I'm done thinking about this for the moment. Time to start reading some Donald Miller ("Through Painted Deserts" is my latest read...and so far it's up to par).

The Reactive Church

Okay, so a friend sent this link to me. It shows how the "church" is reacting to the violence of video games. I think it's great that the church is just now doing something...I mean, how long has Grand Theft Auto been out? How long have violent video games been out? Now, I'm not one to fully stand up against violent video games...the whole idea of censorship to me should be a personal matter...if something offends you, don't watch it, listen to it, play it, or buy it.

However, this just goes back to the whole lack of creativity in the church. If we were truly being creative, we would have been producing the best video games since the beginning. Oh well, check this out:

MSNBC Christian Video Games Article

Creativity & The Church

When I look out the window, I'm overcome by the creativity of our Creator. It's amazing the way our universe has been put together. It's amazing how we have been put together. I could thing about God's creative nature for hours and hours.

As I ponder the creativity of the Creator, I begin to think about our need to be creative. Each of us are fearfully and wonderfully made. Each of us have unique gifts. Each of us are called by God to be creative in whatever it is that He has called us to do.

And, as I think about our need to be creative, I begin to think about the church. The church should be the home of creativity on the earth. Our worship, music, art, writing, etc should be setting the standards for creative genius in the world. However, it seems like rather than being super-creative and culture shaping, the church is becoming more and more a reactionary institution. I know that's a broad generalization and that there are many churches that are on the cutting-edge. But, as a whole, we're missing the mark.

The church needs to embrace a pro-active nature. The early church changed the world around them...The church of today seems to react to the world around us. Instead of the church shaping the culture, the church is now in a position where we try to take the culture of the world and "Christianize" it.

In any given town in America, you can most likely walk into a church and based upon the worship service you might think you have traveled back to 1960. The music, the message, the presentation is the same it was when our parents were children. I think of my own experience...not much in the church has changed since I was in middle school and high school. We tend to communicate and worship the same way today as we did 10-15 years ago. Now, this does work for some people. But, it means we're standing still...we're not moving forward. Therefore, we're not being creative...which I believe God has called us all to be.

The church should be a place that is continually fresh, inspiring, exciting, and culture changing. We should be willing, as the body of Christ, to take bold steps and risks as we create the ministries that God is guiding us to.

Okay, enough babbling...It's time to go create...Which in this house is usually done best with a freshly poured pint of Guinness!

Something New

Caleb Cooper and I are about to embark on a journey of creating something new through Center Chapel UMC. We are planning to launch a new Bible study/community group for college-aged young adults. It's going to be a thing that meets on a weekly basis and we will study the Scriptures, hang out, sing, and eat together. I know we are planning to have a monthly community meal, a monthly service project, and social events that will take place throughout the year. I'm really excited about the possibilities that this new ministry could bring...Who knows what will happen...we may launch an entire new worship service! But, we'll deal with that when we get there. The main thing is that we need an outlet for young people to gather as a community for fellowship, discipleship, worship, and service. Community meals and social events will serve as opportunities for people in the group to develop and grow friendships and also will serve as an opportunity for people in the group to invite their friends to a non-threatening event (Bible studies can be a hard place to walk into when you don't know anyone). Monthly service projects will be an opportunity for our group to put our faith into action. The church is at its best when it serves. So, we will serve together so people will see the outward actions of an inward belief. The Bible study will be a place for people to grow, to ask questions, to seek out what it means to live life as Jesus intended us to live.

I'm totally stoked about this...The only thing is, now we need a name. I've been tossing some ideas around...But, I'm still coming up empty. A lot of the really good names are already taken. One name that continually pops into my head is kairos...It's Greek for "the present time." Who knows where we'll go with the name. But, we've got to get it figured out soon...Our kick-off is on August 31st! Please pray for this new ministry venture!

Laziness & Worship

Well, I should start this whole thing off by admitting my laziness when it comes to posting on this blog. I've had moments where I felt like I should probably write something. Yet, I knew that anything I would write would either be extremely harsh or just simply empty words being posted on a site that would serve absolutely no purpose. So, the absence of posting has probably benefited all of us.

Last night, I had an amazing time of worship...And, it was what I least expected to have happen. I was doing some brainstorming for an upcoming staff retreat while listening to a mix of Coldplay and David Crowder on my laptop. The song "Fix You" by Coldplay came on and I was simply caught up in the beauty of the song. It reminded me of junior high camp, as we used "Fix You" as some intro music for our commitment night. That was a powerful night as we saw many students give their lives to Christ. So, I started to get a little emotional...in a good way...thinking of all the amazing things that I have been able to experience in my short time of ministry. As soon as "Fix You" ended, "O Praise Him" by Crowder came on. This is one of my all-time favorite praise choruses. While air-drumming, I just felt a rush of the Holy Spirit sweeping over and into me. I was filled with great joy as I knew that God was working on my heart condition. Lately, I've been more than disappointed with my worship experiences. Coming off of an amazing time at junior high camp where the worship was incredible, it's been difficult getting back into the swing of things at home. But, that's often what happens after those mountaintop experiences. Sometimes we struggle through the valleys...But, God is there...in a song or a sunset or a friend or a really great steak to remind us of His unfailing love for us. God reminded me last night as I worshipped via my laptop that He is in control and that I need to be patient as we bring people along on this journey of worship.

I guess what was the most incredible thing about my time of worship last night was that it was totally unexpected. As I was doing some of the mundane details of my work, God interrupted and took charge. And, it was just what I needed.