ConnectattheCross

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a registered REPUBLICAN

2012-01-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

And when you tell hardcore leftist Democrats this, it drives them NUTS!!!

But it's the truth.

In the south in the 1940's, '50's and '60's, it was white DEMOCRATS who did not want to integrate schools or abolish the "separate but equal" policies that kept blacks "in their place."

You can read more here, in the newsletter of the National Black Republican Association (NBRA):

http://cache.trustedpartner.com/docs/library/NationalBlackRepublicanAssociation2009/NBRA%20Civil%20Rights%20Newsletter%208Aug2011.pdf

There is some great history at that link, if you're brave enough to learn the facts, not some "reimagined history" that is so often disseminated these days!

Stay Connected,

Pastor Mike

Thanksgiving for what we have—and what we will have

2011-11-23T18:46:00.000-08:00

One of my most memorable experiences in ministry happened a few years ago when I was visiting one of our members in a care facility in midtown Omaha.

While there, I learned that the pastor of the church I attended in high school was also a resident there. His name is Rev. Paul Andre, and he had served at that church for over a dozen years, through many ministry ups and downs (which I can relate to, all these years later!)

Paul was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, it was advanced, and yet he seemed to be in good spirits and was glad to see me. We visited briefly, and finally I asked Paul if he had a favorite scripture he would like me to read.

Without hesitation he said, “Isaiah 35”. That seemed like an odd choice; it wasn’t a passage I could immediately call to mind. But I found it in the Bible he had there, and as I read it aloud for both of us, I understood why it meant so much to him in his present circumstances.

Take a few moments to read it; I think you’ll understand as well:

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of

Lebanon

shall be given to it,
     the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
     the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,
     and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
     “Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
     He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
     He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
     and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
     and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
     and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
     and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
     the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there,
     and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
     but it shall be for God’s people;
     no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
No lion shall be there,
    nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
     but the redeemed shall walk there.

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
     and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
     they shall obtain joy and gladness,
     and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

By the time I finished reading, I was holding back tears. Paul knew the reality of his situation; this nursing home would be his last earthly dwelling place.

But Paul knew a greater reality—a future hope: the Good News, the promise of Isaiah 35 and many similar Biblical texts, that The Day is coming when

“the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
     and come to Zion with singing,
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
     they shall obtain joy and gladness,
     and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

If you’re finding it difficult to be thankful during this holiday season because your life today isn’t everything you’d hoped for—well, you’re not alone. Grief, sorrow, loss—these find all of us sooner or later.

But God gives us much grace—and a reason to give thanks even when life becomes hard and heavy. God points ahead to what we will someday have, his gift of eternal life; the healing of our hearts and the healing of the nations.

The person who believes this and rests in this hope by faith is able to give thanks. Thanksgiving for new life in Christ right now, and for what you will receive on that Day when the amazing images of Isaiah 35 become your inheritance and your experience.

I went to Pastor Paul’s funeral a few weeks later. It was held in that church he had served so tirelessly and faithfully all those years. Because of his faith—trusting in a God who is ever faithful—it was a joyful celebration and remembrance of his life serving God’s people.

And I left after the lunch in the church basement, smiling inside because I knew that Isaiah 35 had become Paul’s new reality. He had joined “the redeemed” who “come to Zion” (God’s eternal presence) with singing, finally obtaining the “joy and gladness” of Isaiah’s beautiful song!

May you know God’s goodness this Thanksgiving season, no matter what your circumstances,

Stay Connected

Pastor Mike

STEADFAST VALUES … in a drifting world …

2011-09-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend is the anniversary of the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

The events of that day live on so vividly in our memories that it’s hard to believe we are at the ten year anniversary of the worst attack ever to take place on American soil.

A number of memorial events are taking place this weekend in memory of those who died and to honor those who sacrificed much on that day, serving bravely during the crisis. Our government and the news media are warning about elevated dangers of attacks on this anniversary date of what we have all come to know as “9-11”.

Our world is still dangerous.

As I said, we all have vivid memories of what happened on that day, and we remember how we spent that day and the days following, as our world and nation were forever changed. And yet how easy it was for us as a nation to drift away from the reality of what happened on that day, and the need to not forget, but to remember and keep alert to the constant dangers of terrorism.

This is an excellent reminder of the tendency we have to drift in our personal lives, forgetting that the world is full of dangers and temptations that would lead us away from those things we say we believe in and value most: loyalty, respect, honesty, integrity, kindness, faith and love. It doesn’t take long for our lives to be overcome with other values; selfishness, greed, pleasure, ingratitude, crass consumerism, false pride and narcissism.

Drift is NATURAL…it is human nature.

It’s what happens when we’re out in our boat on the culture’s river; the current will naturally move us along, and if we’re not keeping our eyes on important landmarks, we’ve soon drifted far from where we know we should be. We naturally drift into dangerous waters.

This Sunday I’m going to be talking about VALUES.

We’re going to remember “9-11” and the values that have made this nation great. But we also need to check ourselves for drift … drift in those values that we say are most important, and yet the world around us keeps distracting us and causing us to “forget”.

What does God have to say about VALUES and DRIFT?

We will look to God’s Word to honestly assess where we’re at, and to discern what it will take to pass on those foundational values to our children and grandchildren. Their future depends on how well they hold steadfast the values and beliefs that we all claim are most important.

I hope you will be there this Sunday. To remember and to honor.
And to revive – and recommit to – those values we hold most dear.

See you Sunday at 9:00 or 10:44 worship.

Stay Connected,

Pastor Mike

Personal Spirituality or Organized Religion?

2011-06-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

I'm a big Al Kooper fan. Who's Al Kooper? He's just the guy who defined Bob Dylan's sound on the song "Like a Rolling Stone” with his signature Hammond organ riff (he also plays guitar and other instruments). He's also the guy who founded Blood, Sweat and Tears (but left the group after their first album, "Child Is Father to the Man”).

Al also played many concerts and recording projects with Michael Bloomfield, whose guitar playing influenced a generation of up and coming guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, you-name-’em. Okay, enough bio info…I’m a BIG Al Kooper fan...can you tell?

Al wrote a song that expresses his own take on faith, spirituality and religion, "Living In My Own Religion." I think it reflects the attitude of many people today concerning "organized religion". Here are some of the lyrics:

I wish that I could put into words
How much you mean to me
And I wish that I could tell you
How much you have helped me
To live my life so unselfishly, Lord
My parents raised me up
To always live inside your shadow
But I must admit there were times
Some times when I would stray

But now I'm living in my own religion
And it's there that I shall always stay…

My friends may call me up on Sunday morning, saying:
“Come along with us to church & we will pray...”
No no you see I'm already in my House of Worship
And it is there I believe I'll always stay
So take me as I am
With my love of God intact
And I will serve you Lord
Til I've sung my last song
I will praise you every morning
And I will thank you God each night
And though some may scorn me
We both know just where I belong
My house will always be my church
You know my temple is my mind
And I will worship You while others misunderstand

Cause I'm living in my own religion
That's what I'm doin' now ... etc.

Living In My Own Religion by Al Kooper. Lyrics ©2001 Rekooped Music (BMI). All rights reserved.

I can't fault Al for having his own personal faith, which he describes with sincerity and beauty in the song. He expresses a true longing for and passion for God. Many people today resonate with this, they hunger for this.

His faith is genuine. But as much as I respect that, I have to also observe, he's not describing Christianity (and to be fair to Mr. Kooper, he never claims to be). Every one is entitled to their own religious views, but too many today think this is compatible with Christian faith. It isn't.

Christianity is very different from a private, personal spirituality. The practice of Christian faith, being a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ - requires group participation; it's not a solo project. Jesus never intended for anyone to live cut off from community; the church is called 'the body of Christ' throughout the New Testament. So we start with connection to Jesus as our "head". Jesus calls the church to fulfill the mission first commissioned to another community, Israel, God's people in the Old Testament (or old covenant).

Here's a statement from the old (pre-1968) Methodist Service of Christian Baptism that clearly defines the importance of the church:

The church is of God,
and will be preserved to the end of time,
for the conduct of worship
and the due administration of God’s Word and Sacraments,
for the maintenance of Christian fellowship and discipline,
the edification of believers
and the conversion of the world.
All, of every age and station,
stand in need of the means of grace
which the church alone supplies.

Christianity is not a solo performance. The only way we can fully engage and connect with God is to engage and connect with other human beings. Just as we are born physically into families, which nurture and shape us, we are born spiritually into a family to be nurtured and shaped into followers of Jesus Christ.

As the above paragraph from the Service of Baptism says, nurture and growth happen as we engage with God's "means of grace" - worship, God's Word and Sacraments, fellowship and spiritual disciplines. These are disciplines we practice both individually and corporately - and God's grace is experienced in meaningful ways through both private and public disciplines.

Here's another important biblical principle: Al doesn’t just need the church; the church needs Al, and his gifts (and every person’s gifts)! God, the Holy Spirit gives each believer gifts to serve the body of Christ. When we don’t get connected, we miss the opportunity to use our gifts to serve the mission of Christ through his chosen “instrument”, the church. We miss the blessing and growth that comes from serving, and others miss the blessing of our serving them with our gifts.

Solo instrumental music is beautiful, so is a solo vocal performance. But the performance becomes so much more powerful when we add other instruments, or a whole choir of voices. In a worship music setting, when we observe the group interaction, it’s much more likely that God will receive the glory than when we’re focused on an individual soloist's performance.

That's why I always end these blogs with the phrase, "stay connected". Connection is Christian faith in action through interaction.

I hope to see you this Sunday in worship (unless you're a member of another church, then be there this Sunday!). God's grace will meet you in that corporate setting, to connect you with God and others. Your life as a disciple of Jesus will advance and become more significant and meaningful because you worshiped with others.

Because this isn't just your or my own spirituality, "my own religion" as Al sings. It's the faith that has been proclaimed, nurtured and passed down through the ages by the church, the body of Christ, encouraging and serving every generation in his name!

Stay connected,

Pastor Mike

Training for the Mission Like a Navy Seal

2011-05-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

Most Americans are very proud of our Navy Seals, who this past Sunday were able to locate and kill Osama bin Laden, the most wanted man in America for the past 10 years. It ends a decade of searching for the man who perpetrated so much evil on our nation on September 11, 2001, and also before and after that date, both here in the United States and against our citizens around the world.

So we salute the courage and commitment of the Navy Seals who went on this mission, along with all of our military men and women who put their lives on the line in service to our country and liberty around the world. Many of them - along with others working behind the scenes and even some civilians - have made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives to protect our people and our freedom. We honor and uphold them with our ongoing support and prayers.

With the successful elimination of bin Laden, we've seen the importance of the right training and equipment for a vital mission. These soldiers trained and sharpened their skills because they would be facing an enemy who would use any means to resist them and indeed, kill them. If captured, these Navy Seals knew that they would very likely be subjected to torture and eventually death at the hands of terrorists who have taken innocent life all around the world. They are dealing with people who are evil. They have to be prepared - they have to be trained and equipped in order to survive and win.

The Church is in a similar battle against evil. Jesus gave us a mission to accomplish, a battle to fight, if you will. He said to go into the world and make disciples - make followers of Jesus Christ - and the process of making disciples involves baptizing them, but also teaching them; training and equipping them to also go out and be one of God's 'soldiers' on the front lines of battle.

The battle is against evil. It is spiritual evil, but it is made manifest in our daily, physical lives. It It is experienced as selfishness, greed, hunger for power, sexual abuse, lying, and stealing. It is in self-destructive behavior like worry, fear, self-pity, alcoholism and drug abuse.

Jesus called us to share the good news that he can defeat evil within us and in our world when we follow him and obey his commandment of love. Jesus makes it possible to fulfill the the Old Testament covenant ideal: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:28, New Revised Standard Version).

The Church has become squeamish about military metaphors in recent times. But it wasn't that long ago that the church worshiped with songs like "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" (both of these are still in our hymnal).

The sad fact is that today, the Church is failing to accomplish the mission for which Jesus called and conscripted us. We fail to understand that, while we have new freedom in Christ, we are under his authority as our Commander-in-Chief; he has commissioned us to train and equip for the mission.

How do I know we're failing? Here's one disturbing statistic: while 80% of the American public claims to be Christian, and affirms that Jesus is the Son of God, only about 20% are in worship on any given Sunday. Someone recently said, "Christianity is dying in the West in the shadow of church steeples."

George Barna, head of The Barna Research Group, is one of the most respected analysts of our culture today. In his 2010 research, he identified six "Megathemes" related to Christian faith and our culture. I want to briefly mention three of them:

1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.
What used to be basic, universally-known truths about Christianity are now unknown mysteries to a large and growing share of Americans - especially young adults. For instance, Barna Group studies in 2010 showed that while most people regard Easter as a religious holiday, only a minority of adults associate Easter with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Other examples include the finding that few adults believe that their faith is meant to be the focal point of their life or to be integrated into every aspect of their existence.

2. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.
Our biblical illiteracy and lack of spiritual confidence has caused Americans to avoid making discerning choices for fear of being labeled judgmental. The result is a Church that has become tolerant of a vast array of morally and spiritually dubious behaviors and philosophies. This increased leniency is made possible by the very limited accountability that occurs within the body of Christ.

3. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.
Christianity has arguably added more value to American culture than any other religion, philosophy, ideology or community. Yet, contemporary Americans are hard pressed to identify any specific value added. Partly due to the nature of today’s media, they have no problem identifying the faults of the churches and Christian people. Christians have bought into this propaganda, and fail to see how much we could continue to influence our culture for good.

Barna's research confirms what many pastors are seeing: their church is failing to fulfill the mission. In many churches, our ministries and budgets aren't focused on making disciples at all.

Pastors are sidetracked by all kinds of busy work and fruitless activity - nothing more than entertainment designed to draw a crowd on Sunday, or therapuetic pats on the head to help ineffective Christians feel good about their broken lives so absent of anything recognizable as Christian discipline.

The apostle Paul saw the spiritual leader's ministry very differently. Paul wrote:
"Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11-13, New Living Translation)

Today, we Christians are so focused on God's grace that we've gotten lazy - we think that because God is loving and gracious, we can slide through life. But we have failed to understand that God's grace is useless if it is not appropriated. That is, we must cooperate with God's grace, working with grace in order for it to change us and make us like Jesus Christ.

God's grace "equips" us through worship, Bible study, accountability, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines. Unless we engage in this kind of training and equipping on a regular basis, God's grace is useless. Please read that last sentence again. Like military training, spiritual training and effectiveness takes discipline: effort, time, attention, and priority.

My concern as I look around our church is that there are many persons I know are Christians; I don't doubt their faith in Christ. But they are not committed to getting trained and equipped for the mission of the church. And they aren't equipping the next generation - their children - to live a victorious, mature and fruitful Christian life. In many cases, they are literally pushing their children away from faith, by making other activities a higher priority in their children's lives!

I know this because of irregular worship attendance patterns. I know this because their children are at sports training on Sunday mornings more often than they're here for spiritual training in Sunday School.

I know because I'm watching Christians in my church struggle in their marriages, deal with alcohol abuse, have financial problems, and just "live" with a lack of the joy of Christ on their faces. Instead I see worry, criticism, anger and a sense of being overwhelmed by their daily circumstances. Is this all we as Christians have to offer to a lost world?

Until we the Church - the body of Christ - begin to put God's grace to work in our lives - through serious Christian disciplines like weekly worship, passionate prayer, serious study and sacrificial stewardship - we will not experience the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. We will not bear the fruit for the gospel due to the Holy Spirit working through us.

God's work simply will not get done;
evil will continue to win - in us and around us.

I pray that you will sense God's conviction as appropriate in your own life, and you will repent and make the necessary changes in your life in order to become " a soldier of the Cross":

Am I a soldier of the cross,
a follower of the Lamb,
and shall I fear to own his cause,
or blush to speak his name?

Must I be carried to the skies
on flowery beds of ease,
while others fight to win the prize,
and sail through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
to help me on to God?

Sure I must fight, if I would reign;
increase my courage, Lord.
I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
supported by your Word.

By God's grace, for your sake and for your children's sake, please...get connected, start training, and

Stay connected,

Pastor Mike

The 21st Century Woman: Trying to Have It All

2011-05-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

I have two questions for the ladies out there:

One: How many plates do you have up in the air right now?
Two: How full is your plate? Any room left for “dessert”?
(IOW, for the things you really like and enjoy?)

I guess what I'm really asking is this: Is your life crazy right now? Do you wish life could be simpler?

My wife, Kathy Jo, subscribes to a magazine entitled Real Simple. The subtitle is Life Made Easier. But I find it ironic that a magazine entitled Real Simple has, in the most recent issue, 256 pages! (An issue from several months ago had only 172 pages.) Shouldn’t a magazine called Real Simple only be about 10 or 12 pages?!

Isn’t this a perfect reflection of our culture today…and what most women are dealing with? (I would be willing to bet that at least 90% of the readers and subscribers to Real Simple are women.) And what the magazine claims as it’s purpose or goal—to help you simplify your life—seems to get lost in it’s size and scope…it would take you all month just to read the whole thing!

And when I opened one issue, what I saw in the first 15 pages were pictures of perfect women – hawking make-up products, fitness items, fancy cars, jewelry and other stuff – these gorgeous women would put the average woman right under the laundry pile; she will never look as sexy these airbrushed models; she is never going to be shaped like these skinny minnies!

What a downer!

What this magazine tries to say in around 200+ pages every month, the gospel writer Luke edits down to one paragraph; five verses, eight sentences! That’s it. All you really need to know to live simply, yet significantly. You'll find this advice for simple living in Luke 10:38-42. It's the account of Jesus going to visit two sisters, Martha and Mary:

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (from the New Living Translation)

Martha complains to Jesus that Mary is just sitting around (with the men, can you imagine?!) and Martha wants her to help in the kitchen! Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the “better portion.” Because Mary’s focusing on Jesus, she has been set free from the anxiety and worry that has Martha so troubled.

Martha is worried about food portions;
Mary is worried about soul food portions.

Martha is caught up in the game that we get caught up in: someone important is coming to her home, and she’s trying to impress them. We are so concerned about what others think of us – we will go to great lengths to impress people.

Dr. Dennis Kinlaw, former president of Asbury College, makes a great observation about our concern to impress others:

“Many of us have a fetish about appearance. I am not talking about clothing and external appearance, although that can be part of it. I am talking about wanting to impress other people all the time, refusing to lose in front of other people, choosing not to accept even second best … What insufferable bondage it is for us and for those we love when we have to look good at every social engagement and in every situation.”
—from This Day With the Master

You've got to cut Martha some slack, though. Because Martha was right to question Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet – women in that culture didn’t become disciples and study scripture – they served the men! Martha was trying to comply with the conventions of her day - she was trying to meet what she assumed were everyone else's expectations of her as a woman. What expectations, what stereotypes today are binding you, squeezing you into a mold that isn’t from God? Note what the apostle Paul says about this in Romans 12.2:

"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (from the New Living Translation)

Jesus gives Mary (and Martha!) permission to break out of the old stereotypes and expectations - the world's behaviors and customs - in order to receive something better, something that truly fills the inner life. Martha is in the conventional role – it is Mary who is not being a “productive member of society” according to their criteria. But it is Martha’s anxiety and worry that are keeping her from enjoying the fact that Jesus is right there, he is available to her for a relationship and for spiritual nurture.

So imagine something with me: think of your life as a plate (we always talk about our plate being full, so you understand the metaphor)…your plate starts out empty; you can put anything on it that you want...or you can let others load it up for you as well…

When you’re putting those “portions” on your “plate” – ask yourself:
• Is your plate too full?
• Is all this stuff on your plate healthy?
• Is all this stuff going to give you “indigestion”?
• What would happen if you left some of this food on your plate—or dumped it down the garbage disposal? Would the world end?
• What are you putting on your family’s or friends’ plates?
• Have you left any room on your plate for Jesus, the “better portion”?

Jesus promises that there is a better way to live than constantly overloading your life’s “plate” with more and more! Are you ready to leave behind the old behaviors and customs - the stereotypes and expectations other have for you? Are you ready to sit at Jesus' feet and learn a new way of living - are you ready for the "better portion" - some real soul food - on your plate?

Stay Connected,

Pastor Mike

How Good is Good Enough?

2011-04-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

“That’s good enough for government work.”

We’ve all heard that line – you’ve probably said it a few times!

It’s a very telling line … “good enough for government work…”

it means good enough to get by,

good enough to slide through,

good enough to get us out of here so we can go eat lunch,

or clock out for the weekend. TGIF! Let’s go!

It’s the phrase you might use when you’re doing volunteer work, and so you justify cutting corners … it doesn’t have to be perfect. Or you’re donating some of the materials and some of your time, so what do people expect?

So, when is “good enough” … not good enough?

When it’s your transmission that’s being rebuilt…

When it’s your business that’s being represented…

When it’s your son or daughter’s education…

When it’s your mom that’s going in for surgery…

…do I see a pattern here?

Sometimes it makes sense to cut corners, but other times—when it happens to us—we feel like we’re been cheated, we feel like we aren’t respected, or we aren’t valued, because someone only did “good enough” by us.

Jesus never settled for “good enough.” Jesus came into a world that was satisfied with good enough, and Jesus said, “That’s not good enough; this is not what my Father intended when He created the world.”

God is not happy with marriages that are average,

or with governments that are self-serving,
or with a business that doesn’t value its employees' labors—
or with employees that blow things off when the boss isn’t looking.

None of this is “good enough”.

Jesus came to show us a better way—God’s way. Jesus went all the way to the Cross, because that was the only way to give us God’s best—
- full forgiveness,
- new life,
- an inheritance as God’s adopted children,
- in a New Heaven and a New Earth
- for all eternity.
Not because we deserve it, but because God’s love is never satisfied with “good enough.”

I’m so glad he values us more than that.

I invite you to come to Easter worship this Sunday, and learn more about the life that God offers; I think you will be blown away by the extent of His passion for you, and the price he was willing to pay to give you His best.

He values you that much—only His best was good enough for you.

Stay Connected,

Pastor Mike

Why Do We Observe Ash Wednesday?

2011-03-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

I thought Ash Wednesday and Lent were Catholic/Orthodox observances?
Do other churches recognize/observe these?
Are they scriptural?
What is ‘Ash Wednesday’ anyway?

I will try to give some information that will help you understand why we observe the season of Lent, and along with it, Ash Wednesday.

Let’s start with the last question first: What is Ash Wednesday?

In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days (40 days not counting Sundays) before Easter. Ash Wednesday falls on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter.

Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of repentance. The ashes used are often from the Palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday. These ashes are mixed with oil or water (in some churches the oil and water have spiritual significance as well); this paste is then used by the minister who presides at the service to make the sign of the cross on the forehead of the people.

This is called the "imposition of ashes." This act echoes the ancient Near Eastern tradition of throwing ashes over one's head to signify repentance before God (as related in many texts in the Bible). The priest or minister says one of the following when applying the ashes:
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
“The kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15).

Are Ash Wednesday and Lent scriptural?

To answer this, we also need to know what the season of Lent is about. The word, “Lent” comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word for ‘spring’ (lencten) which may refer to the lengthening of days at that time of year. As mentioned above, Lent is the season before Easter, and by the 4th century A.D. it was established as 40 days to reflect the 40 days Moses spend on Mount Sinai (receiving the Ten Commandments) and the 40 days that Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness before he began his ministry.

Lent is a season of fasting, praying and self-reflection to prepare for the celebration of Easter. When God redeems us in Christ, one of his goals is the transformation of our lives…this is certainly a scriptural theme and goal! God pours his grace and power into our lives to make our lives meaningful and fruitful.

But this also requires something from us; we must respond to grace with discipline and focus. New habits don’t happen without effort. Lent is an opportunity to cooperate with God’s grace as we discipline ourselves, with the result being changed lives that make a positive difference in our place in the world. We can truly celebrate Easter because our lives are a living witness to the power of God to change the world; we have experienced resurrection, even here and now!

Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance and it marks the beginning of Lent. Ashes were used in ancient times, according to the Bible, to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. An ancient example of one expressing one’s penitence is found in Job 42:3-6. Job says to God:
       I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
       but now my eye sees you;
       therefore I despise myself,
       and repent in dust and ashes.

The prophet Jeremiah, for example, calls for repentance this way (Jer. 6:26):
       O my poor people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes…

The prophet Daniel pleaded for God this way (Daniel 9:3):
       I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer,
       with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.

Lent also reflects and mirrors the 40-day period of preparation by Jesus for his ministry, which he prepared for in the desert through fasting and prayer. During this time he was tempted (see Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13). While not specifically instituted in the Bible, the 40-day period of repentance is also analogous to the 40 days during which Moses repented and fasted in response to the making of the golden calf.

So Lent can be a positive experience of spiritual growth and maturity for us. And Ash Wednesday is the kick-off of our Lenten “discipline”. On Ash Wednesday we gather and remember our finite nature (“you are dust and to dust you shall return”), but also our potential for transformation as disciples of Christ (“repent, and believe the good news”).

We also gather together for worship on Ash Wednesday to remind us that we are part of a body, a family, a community of faith. This goes against the grain of our selfish, individualistic culture, which tells us to go it alone, compete with those around us (rather than cooperate), and work our way to the front of the line or the top of the hill (instead of serving others as Christ served). In every way we will have to discipline ourselves and struggle against the old nature and the messages of our culture.

Gathering for worship on Ash Wednesday is a powerful symbol of all these truths, and a means of God pouring out his grace to us as we confess our sins and sinfulness, and seek to live a new life that is possible through God’s grace and power at work in us.

I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday (March 9) at 7:00 p.m. to begin our Lenten discipline together. And I hope you will add to the effectiveness of that discipline by joining us in our Lenten Study each Sunday, “24 Hours that Changed the World.” There are classes every Sunday during Lent at 7:45 a.m., 9:00 a..m., and 10:30 a.m.

Make this Lenten season 40 days that will definitely change your life and your world!

Stay connected,

Pastor Mike

Men in the Church: Living Proof of Living Faith?

2011-02-18T10:16:00.000-08:00

A hot topic over the past few years has been the feminization of the Church, or the feminization of Christianity in general. Many books have been written addressing the topic (like Leon Podles' book, The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity).

Many other books have been written about Christian men and for Christian men to stir them to become more actively involved in their faith and their church. One of the most popular a couple years ago was John Eldridge's book, Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul. (We did used this book in one of our men's groups a couple years ago.) Like anything popular, the book has come under some criticism, in this case for supposedly being based more on our culture's ideas of manhood than on a scriptural understanding of manhood (aka, based on looking at "what would Jesus do?"). See here for an example of some valid (I think) criticism of Eldridge's ideas.

That kind of criticism does raise an important question: What is "Christian masculinity"? Is it having a cigar and/or drinking a beer while you're at your men's Bible study? Should Christian men "watch their language," or is that just a sissified idea, and 'real men' express themselves? Should all men be 'tough' - matching our culture's image of masculine, or are there other important qualities that a man should have? Are you more 'manly' if you're interested in sports or fishing than if you're interested in art or music?

How do men differ from women in the ways they relate to God in their spiritual lives? Should men get emotional, or should they "buck up" and contain their emotions? Should men balk at singing "love songs to Jesus" in worship, songs with lyrics such as these:

Draw me close to you, never let me go
I lay it all down again, to hear you say that I'm your friend,
You are my desire, no one else will do
No one else can take your place,
to feel the warmth of your embrace
Help me find a way, bring me back to you.

You're all I want, you're all I've ever needed,
You're all I want, help me know you are near.

Are men avoiding worship because churches have feminized the music and removed everything that would challenge men's thinking and acting? Some critics, like David Murrow of Church for Men (http://www.churchformen.com/) say 'Yes' - the church has lost it's ability to reach men because of some of these factors. Others would say Murrow and his crowd go to far - even revising worship style and elements (like the music, sermons, baptism and communion) just so they will appeal more to men. (And which men?)

Obviously the church is struggling with this issue: western Christian churches have the lowest percentage of male participation of the Church around the world, and lower levels of participation than other faiths (particularly Judaism and Islam) in western nations.

Are the men active in leadership in your church? Do some things need to change to get the men involved? Does the church need to be more 'masculine'? Or do men just need to take more responsibility for their own (and their families') spiritual lives?

What do you think?

I look forward to your comments.

Stay connnected,

Pastor Mike

Father's Day - What My Kids Have Taught Me

2010-06-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Over the years, I've realized that my four children (now almost all grown and out of the house) have taught me more than I ever could have taught them!

I know, I know...they can't help but learn from their parents - a very scary fact! And I'm sure I've taught them lots of things that I didn't intend to. I hope that by God's grace and their own "smarts" they will overcome the shortcomings of my example (and forgive me!).

I also hope they "caught" some of the important stuff from Kathy Jo and me: faith in God, self-reliance and hard work, respect for others, a healthy patriotism that knows the limits of goverment, and the importance of helping others through giving back when a need arises.

So here's ten things my kids have taught me personally. (I'm sure there are more, and I'm sure you would mention some different stuff!)

1. I've learned that I'm not always right in an argument with my kids. And when I've "won" an argument by simply being the parent, I may later have to apologize. I've learned how to say "I'm sorry" because of this fact.

2. Sometimes "because I said so" is the only answer they need, but other times I need to patiently (that means rationally, in a calm voice) explain why the answer is "no" or "not right now" or whatever.

3. The world will not end because their toys are all over the living room! And they will be all over the living room again tomorrow, no matter how many times they're picked up! Just learn to step over them. (Later this applies to their stuff all over the bathrooms, then in the garage!)

4. They will all be different from each other (having four kids, I have at least good anecdotal evidence for this!). Measure them all by their own strengths, gifts, dreams and opportunities. Be thankful for each one's uniqueness; comparison is a dead-end for you and them.

5. They need a parent, not another friend. They will always have friends - they don't have anyone else who will step up and do the thankless job of being their parents. When their friends let them down, they still need you to be their parents.

6. They will mirror perfectly what you say and do. So be careful.

7. They will call you on your hypocrisy (in word or deed). Again, be careful.

8. They value you and your time, not the stuff you give them. The best times I've ever spent with my kids were not on expensive vacations (don't know if we ever actually went on one of those), but those times when we could all simply be together, whether at home, or in a borrowed pop-up camper (in the rain!) or at Grandpa and Grandma's house. (Those are their best memories, too, according to what they themselves have told me.)

9. They grow up fast. I never believed it when the older folks said that. Now I'm one of the older folks.

10. There's no better "school" than raising kids to help you personally understand the love and grace of God. If you love your kids, and forgive them over and over and over, how much more does the infinite God who created you, them, and this thing called "family" - how much more does God love each one of us? Let that sink into your mind and heart, and you'll be a better parent, and a better person.

I'm sure there's lots more...and I invite you to leave a comment and add to the list!

And have a great Father's Day - just being together!

Stay connected,

Pastor Mike

(This post is dedicated to my four awesome kids, Ann Kathryn, David Robert, Nathan Mark and Jill Kristin. Thank you all for being such great kids. I love you.)

Why the United States Is A Great Nation - Memorial Day Thoughts

2010-05-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

It's Memorial Day, and it's a day to give thanks for those who sacrificed their lives for this great nation. And we are a great nation, in spite of what so many other nations around the world say about us, or think of us. In many cases, I suspect they're simply envious of our accomplishments, and rightly so.

In an interview in 2002 called MTV Global Discussion, there was an exchange between General Colin Powell and a woman from Norway, in which Colin Powell (then President George W. Bush's Secretary of State) gave an eloquent response to her accusation that the United States is "Satan".

Here is part of their exchange, and Colin Powell's powerful response:

QUESTION: Hi. Hello, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY POWELL: Hello, Edith.

QUESTION: I’m wondering, when I talk to my friends about the U.S., we think about how do you feel about representing a country commonly perceived as the Satan of contemporary politics

SECRETARY POWELL: Seen as what?

QUESTION: As the Satan of contemporary politics.

SECRETARY POWELL: Satan? Oh. Well, I reject the characterization. Quite the contrary. I think the American people, the United States of America, presents a value system to the rest of the world that is based on democracy, based on economic freedom, based on the individual rights of men and women. That is what has fueled this country of ours for the last 225 years.

I think that’s what makes us such as draw for nations around the world. People come to the United States. They come to be educated. They come to become Americans. We are a country of countries, and we touch every country, and every country in the world touches us.

So, far from being the Great Satan, I would say that we are the Great Protector. We have sent men and women from the armed forces of the United States to other parts of the world throughout the past century to put down oppression. We defeated Fascism. We defeated Communism. We saved Europe in World War I and World War II. We were willing to do it, glad to do it. We went to Korea. We went to Vietnam. All in the interest of preserving the rights of people.

And when all those conflicts were over, what did we do? Did we stay and conquer? Did we say “Okay, we defeated Germany. Now Germany belongs to us? We defeated Japan, so Japan belongs to us”? No. What did we do? We built them up. We gave them democratic systems which they have embraced totally to their soul. And did we ask for any land? No, the only land we ever asked for was enough land to bury our dead. And that is the kind of nation we are.

So, far from being the Satan, I think we are the protector of a universal value system that more and more people are recognizing as the correct value system: democracy, economic freedom, the individual rights of men and women to pursue their own destiny. That’s what we stand for, and that’s what we try to help other countries achieve as well.

Thank you, General Powell. That is why we can honor our military dead, AND be proud of what the United States had accomplished and stood for since our founding. No, we're not perfect, individually, or as a nation. But we have, as General Powell said, given the world the gift of democracy as a vision and a reality that sets men and women free like no other nation and no other political system as ever done.

Makes me want to sing with Lee Greenwood,

...and I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I gladly stand up...
next to you and defend her still today
Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God bless the U.S.A.!

Stay Connected,

Pastor Mike

Memorial Day - Thanks, Dad!

2010-05-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

(The following is the sermon I preached on Sunday, May 30th. May 30th used to be the official day we celebrated Memorial Day until it was changed to be the last Monday in May each year.)

Last Sunday afternoon there was a meeting at Bellevue St. James United Methodist Church to help pastors and lay members prepare for the meeting of the Nebraska Conference of the United Methodist Church coming up in a couple weeks in June.

The St. James Church is near old downtown Bellevue, and also only a few blocks from Bellevue Cemetery, where my dad, Harvey Davis "Mac" McInnis, was laid to rest almost 20 years ago now.

After the meeting, I had some time before I needed to be back at our church for our last men's "Uncommon" study, so I went over to the cemetery to stop at my dad’s grave for a few minutes. When I got there, his military grave marker was dirty, from dust, grass, and inconsiderate birds. So I went to a grocery store a couple miles away and got some water, paper towels, and found a flag that I could take back and put in the ground next to his marker.

While I was cleaning it off, I was reminded of how simply my dad had lived, and yet how much he had accomplished in his short life – he died when he was 49 from cancer, possibly related to his service in Vietnam. My dad was an enlisted man; he joined the military right out of high school to escape the poverty that comes from having an alcoholic step-father and no real options in the deep south town of Bastrop, LA, other than working at a local paper mill where lots of guys went after high school.

My dad was big enough in high school that he could have played football – and probably could have gotten a scholarship to play in college. But his mother wouldn’t let him play – she was afraid he would get hurt! So the military became his ticket out of town. He used to joke that he squeezed four years of college into 17 years…that’s how long it took him to get his bachelor’s degree.

And I remember when he graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with that degree – it was during the time I was in college. And he wasn’t done yet…he continued on and in a few more years earned his masters as well, all while serving in the Air Force. When he retired after 23 years, he had also achieved the highest rank that could be achieved by a non-commissioned officer at that time, the rank of Chief Master Sergeant.

But mostly what I was thinking about last Sunday afternoon, while I was cleaning off his marker, was how much that simple military marker symbolized his whole life. He lived simply because he had a wife and four kids; he sacrificed a great deal to be faithful to his family, and also to go to school all those years.

I remember right after he and my mom got married (I was nine, my brothers were six); we moved to Duluth, MN, and he always worked a second job to makes ends meet, while my mom stayed home and took care of us kids (including my little sister who came along later). He worked at a Burger Chef and a Target store when he wasn’t doing his job for the Air Force as a meteorologist.

He didn’t have expensive hobbies or toys. He would occasionally go bowling, and he did find time to play in a league at Offutt A.F.B. once or twice, and time to play on his church softball team.

His education paid off, and after he finally retired from the military, he started working for Harris Corporation in Bellevue, going back to work at Offutt doing computer programming. He and my mom were able to build a comfortable home, and he was finally making a real salary.

He only lived in that house for around five years when cancer took his life. And for a long time after that, whenever I would see a retired couple traveling together – in an RV or somewhere together on vacation - I would think about how he never got to do those things with my mom. Sometimes it just didn’t seem fair.

But he left a legacy of serving his country, his family and his church. He left a legacy of faith. He would usher at church almost every Sunday, and also served on various committees. I know he and my mom were strong financial supporters of their church. When he wasn’t ushering, if I was standing next to him in church during a hymn, I’d hear his monotone voice; my dad would sing even though he only hit the right note occasionally – and once in awhile it even sounded like he found a harmony note there for a measure or so!

But he would sing; he would worship God with the voice he was given…I’m sure God was pleased.

(This used to amaze me, because he could whistle a tune - any tune, like crazy - and whistled a lot around the house! But he couldn’t sing a note!)

I tell you all this because, as I was cleaning off his grave marker, I was thinking how faithfully he lived, and how he left me an example to follow—and how often I fall so short of being the man he was. I know he wasn’t perfect, but he lived one of the most honorable lives I’ve ever seen…quietly, without fanfare, but it spoke, and still speaks, loudly to me. And his faith helped him do that.

And I resolved as I drove out of that cemetery to do my best to follow in his footsteps, to stay the course, to keep running the race honorably, even though the world tempts me so often to take an easier, more selfish road, and so often I give in to that.

My dad is a member of that great cloud of witnesses that we read about in Hebrews 12:1-2, which says:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

When the author writes, "so great a cloud of witnesses," he is referring back to all of Hebrews 11, in which he gives us example after example of those who lived by faith: Noah and his family, Abraham and Sarah, Moses’ parents (who hid him from Pharoah), and then Moses, the people of Israel crossing the Red Sea on dry land, Rahab the prostitute who repented and helped the men of Israel, also Gideon, David, Samuel, the prophets, who spoke faithfully for God over and over to an unfaithful society.

Like the men and women we honor this Memorial Day for their sacrifices for the liberty of their fellow Americans, these men and women in Hebrews 11 often proved their faith by sacrificing their lives to be faithful to God’s truth.

They are that great cloud of witnesses—not because they’re watching us—no, because we have their lives as a witness of how to live by faith in the face of persecution…we’re watching them; we’re looking at them, to see how to live by faith.

They encourage us to have courage when we want to shrink back and do what’s easy, when we’re tempted to just “go with the flow,” even though the flow of our culture is often destroying lives and breaking apart families and leading to financial ruin.

The writer encourages us not to lose heart; he encourages us to remember that Christ suffered for us—the just for the unjust—the same way that many of our military have given their lives for those who don’t appreciate it, or honor them.

But there IS a difference! Jesus suffering and death gives us a freedom that goes beyond all the freedoms we have as Americans - as wonderful and as precious as those freedoms are.

Jesus sets us free from all our past mistakes, all our selfishness that has hurt others, and all the offenses others have committed against us—those hurts and memories no longer have power to oppress and victimize us.

Jesus sets us free to live lives that are honorable and worthwhile. And yes, we may suffer in the process, like these folks listed in Hebrews 11…all of them suffered in some way because they chose to live by faith. But it was their faith that helped them stay true to God’s call, it was their faith that helped them leave a legacy for others to see and follow.

Jesus gave us all a gift of freedom that surpasses all human freedoms: the freedom to become the men and women God created us to be. The freedom from the curse of death, so that, though we suffer, and even die for our faith or for our nation, we know that we will live with Christ in the world to come, knowing glories and blessings that we cannot imagine today.

So thank you to all these who have gone on before us. Thanks to my dad, who embraced what Jesus did for him, and who then set a powerful, consistent example for me to follow—an example that raises the bar for me and encourages me to stay faithful.

As I remember him today, with this great cloud of witnesses, I’m struck again by the fact that he was, along with my grandfather, the greatest man in my life. For that, I thank him...I thank both of them.

There’s something else I forgot to tell you. Because I was nine when he and my mom got married, my brothers and I got used to calling him “Mac,” which was his nickname. Even after he adopted all three of us, we called him Mac - it’s just what we all were used to.

But as I tell you about him and honor him today, along with all our veterans, I want to say with respect, humility, and love,

“Thanks, Dad.”

What Are We Stealing From Our Children?

2010-05-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not referring to the federal deficit, although that's certainly a topic worthy of much more discussion (and a solution!).

So...what are we
- and by "we" I mean we Christians -
stealing from our children?

We are stealing from them the personal experience and blessing of God's gift of Sabbath rest.

The past few weeks I've talked to a number of other pastors, and we're all experiencing the same Sunday morning phenomenon: anemic worship attendance. These pastors, like me, serve congregations that are growing and seeing a regular influx of new people; a healthy percentage of our worship attendance every Sunday is first time guests or people who have started attending church with us in the past 3-6 months.

But many of our members aren't there (and neither are their children).

What each of these pastors know is that if many of our folks just added one more Sunday each month in worship attendance, we would see a 50% increase in worship attendance overall!

But I'm much more concerned about something else. I'm concerned about the heritage we're leaving to our children - or, more accurately, failing to leave to our children. Our children are not experiencing God's gift of Sabbath rest each week, one day out of seven - the way God designed it in the beginning of creation.

Not only are our adult lives driven and overscheduled and without balance or margin at the beginning of the 21st century...our kids lives are just as hectic. They are learning to live (or would that just be learning to survive?) at a pace that is unhealthy and against their nature.

God created us as creatures who require rest and renewal - physically, but also emotionally, psychologically, spiritually - in every dimension of our being. We have to sleep every night in order to function the next day - we will eventually collapse from exhaustion without sleep.

God also created us with a built in rhythm for rest - weekly; one day out of seven. And God said, "Do as I have done." God set the example by creating for six days (however you choose to measure those days), then resting the seventh day, and consecrated it, making it holy (set apart for other purposes).

Yes, God created work - please understand: work is good! God's work in creation is good; our work in creating and using our gifts and talents and skills is good! Our lives are significant in part because of our work - given to us by our Creator BEFORE the fall..work was always part of God's design for us, even in Eden.

But God says work isn't everything; it doesn't completely define you or me. God gave us "Sabbath" - this day of rest - as a gift. He commands us...but also gives us permission, to stop our daily work, our daily activity, our regular schedule, whatever that looks like.

STOP!

Cease and desist! Put down your tools, set aside your pen, close your laptop, shelve your books.

The purpose of this stopping is so that we can fulfill an important purpose for which we were created, "to glorify God and enjoy him forever." Here's the problem:

Our children are being robbed of this blessing - to fulfill their most important purpose, and to enjoy their most important relationship.

Instead of being taught this rhythm of Sabbath rest and receiving the renewal and blessings that come with it, we - we Christian parents - are letting the kids sleep in if they don't feel like going to church or Sunday school. Or we're letting sports interfere with Sunday morning worship. Or we're choosing to "worship God" on the lake, or at the amusement park, or at the relatives (who aren't taking us to church with them on Sunday, either).

It gives me no pleasure to write this, but understand this: God will judge us - Christian parents! - in this area. Have we been faithful in modeling for our kids and giving them the gift of Sabbath rest and worship?

But just as sobering as God's judgment is the loss our kids are experiencing right now as they rush from one activity/one commitment/one responsibility to another...without knowing that they have permission to rest.

How sad. And how wrong of us to take this from them.

Isn't it amazing? If we rob God (of his glory and worship on Sundays), we also rob our children (of rest, renewal and a deeper relationship with God). And if we bless God (in worship on Sundays) we also bless our children with these gifts for which they were created. Either way, when we do the one, we also do the other!

I'll be addressing this topic again for the next two Sundays (May 16 and 23) as we continue to consider The Rest of Your Life: Creating Balance, Margin and Peace.

I invite you to be there to learn more about the blessings of God's gift of rest for you and your children, and also learn ways to unplug in the midst of our hectic, exhausting culture.

Stay connected,

Pastor Mike

Life feeling a little 'crowded'?

2010-04-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

Life can be overwhelming these days.

There's so much to keep track of...e-mail, phone calls (and texts!), the calendar, facebook page, twitter, not to mention the 'real' paper stuff that shows up in the old mailbox out on the curb! All of it is demanding your attention, pleading for your time, pestering for a response.

If you're not crazy yet, you feel like you're getting very close!

How do you get some sanity back in your life in this noisy world? Where do you find a quiet place? When do you catch your breath? Will you get to do anything you really enjoy again...before, oh, say...retirement?

That's why this month (April and May, really) I'm doing a sermon series entitled "The REST of Your Life: Creating Balance, Margin and Peace." We're exploring what it will take to unplug enough from the constant clamor and never ending motion in order to find rest. And in that rest we can experience renewal, restoration and the energy to be the productive person God created us to be.

The picture above is from the popular TV show, "Hoarders." If you haven't seen it, you've heard about it. The show documents people who have so much physical "stuff" in their homes that they are literally suffocating in their stuff. In many cases, it has caused separation or divorce; it has led to children, parents, friends and loved ones becoming estranged from each other.

All over so much junk.

But it's not junk to these folks. It's important stuff...that's why they have to keep it, they can't throw it away. They might need it someday; they're sure they'll use it. It's special to them, even precious. And it has completely disrupted their lives, making it impossible for them to have a healthly life with healthy relationships. They are sick people...something has driven them to this point of needing to have all this stuff.

Most of us don't hoard stuff...we have some kind of "filtration system" that helps us keep things from piling up; it might be our desire for a clean home, or we throw old stuff out when something new comes in the house to replace it...whatever it is, we manage to manage things.

But I suspect that many of us are really "hoarders" in other, less obvious ways. We can't say no to an invitation to attend a lunch or event. We agree to one more task force at work or with our service club. We agree to serve on yet another committee or ministry area at church. We agree to run for school board, or serve on PTA.

Don't get me wrong...many of these may be very good things, very worthy causes. But are they the best use of our time, talents and energy? Your time and energy, especially, come in a limited supply. Yet we somehow justify crowding one more thing onto the calendar, one more commitment which will require our attention and the above mentioned limited resources.

As you think about your current commitments and obligations, honestly try to answer the following questions:

What are you trying to prove? (That you're superman/superwoman?)

Who are you trying to please? (Who are you afraid to say 'No' to?)

Does this activity have real, eternal value for you or someone else? (Does it ... really?)

What would happen if you did say 'No' to some of your current commitments? Maybe you feel you should fulfill your current obligations, but what would happen if you didn't take on any new commitments without honestly assessing their value in light of that third question?

We all need to find ways to build margin into our lives. 'Margin' is time: time that is not committed to anything in particular. It is time to rest and renew. It is time that is available for your family and friends when 'something suddenly comes up'. Wouldn't it be great to be available for those closest to you? Wouldn't it be refreshing to have some of your time and energy - some of your SELF left for those who need you most?

A few weeks ago we had a cleaning day at the church. In the storage room next to fellowship hall, we went through LOTS of trunks, carts, boxes and bags...lots of stuff when into the dumpster. A few things went to the Good Will store. And four boxes of old magazines and journals that I've been hanging on to (for years!) ended up back in my office. Just sitting there. Staring at me. Every day...ever since we had the cleaning day.

Yesterday they all went into the church dumpster. It wasn't all that difficult to do, really...I finally just got sick of them cluttering up my office. It's nice to have that space back, and to feel like I have one less thing to take care of/find a place for/worry about. It is a load off my mind, a burden I no longer have to carry. I can use that energy for other things now.

No wonder Jesus warns us about "stuff".

And "stuff" takes many forms in our lives, crowding out the better and best. What are you "hoarding"? Material things? Trophies of your accomplishments? Why? Are you trying to prove something about yourself by what you have or what you do rather than by who you are? Again, why? It's very important to look deep inside yourself and honestly answer these questions.

Do you want to take your life back? Then ask yourself today, "What can I 'throw out' (or take off my calendar) right now in order to reduce the clutter in my life?"

Don't hesitate to do it; I'm telling you, it feels pretty good!

Stay connected,

Pastor Mike

Top Three Books from "Sacred Marriage" Sermon Series

2010-02-10T12:44:00.000-08:00

I promised last Sunday that I would provide the titles of the three books mentioned during the sermon entitled, "In the Beginning, God Created ... SEX!"

These three books have helpful chapters on a number of topics related to sex in the context of marriage, but also speak to sex and the single Christian, especially the book by Richard Foster.

The first book, Sacred Marriage: What It God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy? by Gary Thomas has been the foundational text for this six week series. As I said a number of times during the series, Thomas writes in an engaging, easy-to-read style that is both thoughtful and practical, helping both men and women to see the relevance of God to our marriages.

There's a reason why lots of folks are reading this book - it's practical, biblical - bottom line, it speaks to where most people are struggling in marriage today, and gives insight and encouragement in building a lasting "holy" marriage that enriches our lives.

The second book, by Richard Foster, is The Challenge of the Disciplined Life, which originally had the much better title, Money, Sex and Power - because that's what this book deals with head-on: our culture's infatuation with money, sex and power. Foster examines each of these topics for several chapters, helping the reader understand God's perspective on each of these areas of life.

His chapters on sex are excellent, and he deals with "chastity" from the perspective of singles, but also from the perspective of the married person, who is also called to live in chastity and faithfulness with their spouse. Spiritually renewing and encouraging, this is a book that will deepen your faith and your understanding of the influence of money, sex and power on your life.

Finally, one of my Top Five books of all time for men, is Healing the Masculine Soul: How God Restores Men to Real Manhood, by Dr. Gordon Dalbey. This book was first published in 1988, and it was groundbreaking at that time (I think I found it around 1994 or so).

Like Foster's book, this book also went through a slight title change; it was originally published as Healing the Masculine Soul: An Affirming Message for Men and the Women Who Love Them. I mention the original title because I do think wives ought to read this book as well; it will help explain your husband, and if you have sons, it can help you both understand them, and launch them into manhood in healthy ways.

One of Dalbey's main concerns is that in our modern/western culture, we have no identifiable rite of passage when boys become men. This leads to prolonged adolescence and a sense of loss in many men. Add to this (or because of this there are) the fractured relationships between fathers and sons, and you have a culture of men who don't really know what it means to be "a real man," leading to all kinds of inappropriate and hurtful behavior for relationships between men and women.

All three of these books are in print, and they are usually in stock at Parables Christian Bookstore here in Omaha.

Stay Connected,

Pastor Mike

Rush Limbaugh: Why Do So Many Dislike Him?

2009-12-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

I'm a political conservative - there I said it.

And I'm a political conservative because I'm a conservative, period. The only liberal thing about me (and most other conservatives) is my generosity. (A recent study and follow up book by Arthur C. Brooks, professor at Syracuse University, entitled Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism proves with hard data that conservative Americans are much more, well, liberal, with their charitible giving than so-called "liberals." And Americans are much more charitable than Europeans, and so on...so much for the stereotypes. But I've already digressed way off topic...)

I'm a political conservative, and I listen to Rush Limbaugh. (And I've read both of his books, The Way Things Ought to Be and See, I Told You So). And I agree with him on a lot of things. Most things. Almost everything, when push comes to shove.

I've noticed, though, that there are some conservatives who would not be willing to make the public confession I just made. And I know other conservatives - some of them conservative clergy like myself - who don't like Rush. I've also got friends and relatives who are conservatives who gladly admit that they don't like Rush. When these people give a reason why they don't like him (and I like to ask, just to tweak them a bit!), there's one word that they use more than any other in their answers:

They say that Rush Limbaugh is arrogant.

They also say he's obnoxious (second most common answer in my unscientific survey - but I think my results are more accurate than any current "scientific" global warming models!). He's in-your-face. He's rude to callers (not really - not until or unless they're rude to him...and never as rude as some other TV and radio personalities I've heard, both on the right and the left).

So I've thought about this...

...this whole "Rush Limbaugh is arrogant" mantra. Why do people have this almost knee-jerk response in their dislike for the man? Many of them have seldom or never listened to a single daily three-hour Rush Limbaugh radio program. I suspect most only know of Limbaugh second hand, from what they've seen/heard said about him in the media, and by now we all should know how today's media edit everything they report for their own desired slant on issues or news.

But there's something else at work here. There's another reason why people say Rush is arrogant. It is this: because Rush speaks with passion to the issues of the day, and he has an opinion about nearly everything...and he believes he is RIGHT. No, I don't mean he believes he's on the right (versus the left); Rush believes and has the conviction that he is speaking THE TRUTH.

And that makes a lot of people today nervous.

Because we live in a culture today that believes it's just fine to have an opinion about things, but it's not politically (or culturally) correct to have the conviction that one's opinions are TRUE (unless of course, those opinions reflect the liberal / politically correct / Hollywood / mainstream media / academic ivory tower mindset that is pushed on us from every direction these days).

If you have conservative convictions, you are not supposed to believe your convictions are TRUE...they are just your opinions, and you really should keep them to yourself, thank you. Don't impose them on me. Stay out of my personal space (my bedroom, my womb, the internet sites I visit late at night). Many persons who have conservative beliefs and convictions (about what is true) have been pressured by those around them to keep quiet - and even to question whether their convictions are anything more than, at best, personal preference.

Enter Rush Limbaugh. Loud Rush Limbaugh. Passionate Rush Limbaugh. Rush Limbaugh who is "right 98.6% of the time" (his words on his radio show - occasionally he says he's right as often as 99.2% of the time). He talks about being a "Truth Detector." The "Doctor of Democracy." "Talent on Loan from GOD." And liberals go nuts!

Why? Because their mantra is "no one has a corner on the truth" (except them). There are no absolutes (except that little "absolute" - oops!).

Over his 20 years on The Rush Limbaugh Show, Rush has accomplished something that not only makes liberals crazy, lately it is making them very nervous. He has moved the markers of the public conversation. Liberals no longer control the conversation in the public square - Rush and other conservative talk show hosts (and news outlets like FOX News) have more listeners than the old (and new) liberal media outlets. And that is impacting public opinion.

Does Rush speak "the truth?" Well, you can say, "no" all you want, but over 20 million listeners every week are tuning in, most of them agreeing with his views. Again, other conservative shows are also attracting huge numbers of listeners (Sean Hannity, Glen Beck, Laura Ingraham, and others who are more libertarian, like Neal Boortz and Tammy Bruce).

Is anything TRUE? For sure? Does Rush - does any one of us - have the right to say "this is the truth, that is a lie; this is right, that is wrong"?

Well, if we can't say with certainty that some things are true, how can we live our lives and function each day? Is that car silver or red? Is the sky blue or green? Is this a $5 bill or a $50 bill?

What about much more important things, like defining murder, lying, adultery, stealing, and other vices? What about defining marriage as between one man and one woman? (Certainly those on the left have absolute moral definitions for their "pet sins," like homophobia, obesity, smoking, business profits and year-end bonuses for executives in the private sector)?

We quickly see that everywhere we turn, things must be defined - we must pass judgment - and our judgments are all about moral choices, convictions about right and wrong.

Since I'm a minister, I can't resist taking this blog post in the direction of religion. And even if I were not a minister, I would need to do so, because religion is where many (all?) of our convictions about right and wrong are founded (that includes the liberal left's moral convictions as well - they won't admit it, but they do come to those convictions by faith).

The Jewish and Christian religions have a great deal to say about right and wrong; there are definitions and judgments of good and evil throughout the Old and New Testament scriptures of these two faiths. The Bible calls some behaviors "sin," period. There's no getting around it. And we should note that everything defined as "sin" in the Bible is an act that breaks relationships - either between God and human beings or between one person and another (this includes between individuals, or between private persons and the state, etc.).

Jesus made judgment calls all the time, while still extending love, grace and forgiveness to persons. But he was not shy about calling something "good" or "evil". And he made a profound statement about truth in John 8.31-32:

"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
(emphasis added, English Standard Version)

Jesus said very plainly here that "the truth" can be known (by those who are his true disciples). It can be discerned, practiced, and named.

And Jesus said to those disciples, "the truth will set you free." Our founding fathers would say that this means free from the need for others to govern you, because you are self-governing. Yet we see more and more laws being passed - why? Because we are a people losing our moral conscience - and therefore our ability to be self-controlled, and self-governing.

"Free" also means free from restrictions on where you can travel, what you can eat, where you can live, what size home you can own, what kind of work you can do...these were all freedoms assumed and enumerated by our founding fathers who wanted to keep an oppressive government out of their lives.

This is the "truth" that Rush "preaches," and it is an understanding of freedom that many Americans have lost because our generation no longer understands these constitutional concepts. Therefore many people easily accept the liberal left's own truth claims, without asking for sources or evidence for why we should listen to them or trust them.

So Rush drives people crazy and brings on their wrath because he, too, has the arrogance to claim to know and speak the truth.

I'm sorry that this bothers some people. I'm sorry if it makes a few folks uncomfortable. I'm sorry if it embarrasses people in polite society when someone says with conviction, "you're wrong."

In today's dark world, we need someone to turn the light back on. Keep talking, Rush!

Stay connected,

Pastor Mike

P.S. Since I brought up generosity at the beginning of this thread, I'll also note that Rush is a generous philanthropist. He holds an annual fundraising telethon called the "EIB Cure-a-Thon" for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In 2006 the EIB Cure-a-Thon conducted its 16th annual telethon, raising $1.7 million; totaling over $15 million since the first Cure-a-Thon. In 2008, Rush raised his pledge to $400,000 after someone called in and challenged him to do so. Rush usually matches a pledge each year made by two anonymous donors, whom he only identifies as two sisters. So ... Rush is another liberal, generous conservative.

Facing The Spirits During Christmas...

2009-12-10T14:39:00.000-08:00

Ebenezer Scrooge was confronted about his miserly, self-centered life by the Christmas Spirits.

And in the 2000 movie release, The Family Man, Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) is likewise confronted by - whom? an angel? the Spirit of Christmas? - and he's given the chance to find out what a "real, down-to-earth" life feels like. Oh boy.

I trust you've seen the movie, so I won't go into a long synopsis of the plot. (If you haven't seen it yet, crawl out from under your rock, add it to your Christmas viewing list, go rent it, and you can thank me later!)

I'll just say this: what happens to Jack Campbell - being transported Scrooge-style from his penthouse bed on Christmas Eve into a parallel universe - would be an equally troubling experience for anyone during this Christmas season, but an experience that might do some good.

If the Spirits of Christmas - past, present and future - were to visit you, what powerful or painful moments from your life would you see? And based on your current trajectory, what does your future look like?

Let's approach this question from the "fly-on-the-wall" vantage point. To whom among your family or friends would you love to see this happen? Who do you know that needs just such a "wake-up" call? Is there a Scrooge in your life to whom you would love to play Marley (while still alive, of course!)?

The biblical account of Christmas ought to be as disturbing to us as a visitation from Marley or the Christmas Spirits.

The angels come to announce the birth of the Savior...but the story is very different from the way we would tell it if we were writing...

God chooses folks of humble origin to parent the Christ child. The angels make their joyous announcement of God's peace and good will to society's least and last (the shepherds were the social outcasts or their day). All of this happens in out of the way places, in "fly-over country" as we call it today. It only comes to the attention of the political and religious leaders later, when Jesus is sought by magi from the east, when they alert a jealous, counterfeit Jewish King Herod of the birth of the true "King of the Jews."

Herod was nervous because he knew he was a phony. And the political and religious leaders around him also knew that their power was based on fraud and deceit. God comes into our world and shines his light into our comfortable, self-centered lives and says, "Is that it? Is that all you've got, Jack Campbell?"

We like the baby Jesus at Christmas - harmless, gentle, sweet. But when he is King Jesus he's a bit unnerving - he intends to be on the various thrones that we've created - political thrones; cultural and religious thrones; the "money, sex and power" thrones where we sit, planning our next conquest.

God isn't out to squash our fun. But he knows that there's something so much better for us - like Jack Campbell - but we will need to make some radical adjustments in our lives. We will need to let go of what seem to us like good or even great things in order to make room for the best things, God's gracious gifts. God can only place his gifts in open, empty hands.

And, like Jack Campbell, you will have to "walk by faith" for a while. At first this new life, with God in control, will feel like a strange fit, like someone else's clothes. It won't impress like the old wardrobe. But it's much more comfortable, much more durable, and it is more "suited" to our new life (okay, one bad pun!).

So when the Christmas Spirits show up, it can be scary. It feels very threatening, it IS very threatening. King Jesus intends to transform the kingdoms of this world into the kingdom of our Lord. And the kingdom he will start with is the one you are presiding over today.

Stay connected,

Pastor Mike

Merry Christmas, signed: Bob Dylan

2009-12-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

Bob Dylan has released a Christmas CD this year, entitled "Christmas In The Heart."

Don't worry, I don't expect you to run out and buy it! (I don't even have it yet...Kathy did promise to get it for me for Christmas...) Dylan's voice is Dylan's voice, and some people just can't get past that - or maybe won't take the time to listen seriously to his lyrics to hear from a man who is still one of the most engaging prophetic artists of our time.

So I know - I know - there just aren't many (if any?) serious Dylan fans among those who normally read this blog! By a "serious" Dylan fan, I mean someone who can name a song title or album title that Dylan has released in the last 25 years, which would be sometime since 1984...bet'cha can't do it!

Some of Dylan's fans of his older music might wonder why he would release a Christmas album, and reviewers who have heard it are all over the place in their reviews. I've heard clips of a couple songs on the internet, and read some of the reviews.

Indeed, the questions could run along this line of thinking: "Why would Dylan release a Christmas album? After all, isn't he Jewish? I thought he got over that Christian phase of his a long time ago?"

But as I continue to listen to Dylan's music (and I have most of his albums of new material released in the past 30 years), I hear him expressing - in his own apocalyptic, mysterious and enigmatic way - a searching faith that struggles to embrace his Jewish roots with a Messianic Christian worldview...and I find Dylan's "wrestling in song" more compelling than most of the contemporary Christian music that is being created and released today (which may say more about my limited awareness of contemporary Christian music over the past few years than it does about contemporary artists and their music).

We'll come back to Dylan's new Christmas album in a moment...

This year marks the 20th anniversary of - in my humble opinion - one of the best albums of Dylan's entire career, the 1989 release, Oh Mercy.

Oh Mercy was released ten years after Dylan's breakout "Christian" album, Slow Train Coming, yet it contains songs that ought to be as compelling for people of faith as the songs on that 1979 artistic masterpiece.

(ASIDE: It should be noted that Slow Train Coming was praised - sometimes years later - by many critics, even some who didn't resonate with Dylan's overt Christian lyrics on the album. And many songs from this phase of Dylan's career have been recorded by some of today's best known gospel artists - Shirley Ceasar, Dottie Peoples, Aaron Neville, Helen Baylor, Mighty Clouds of Joy, Mavis Staples - on the 2003 album entitled Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan. This is a poweful, moving album of black gospel music! It's a testament to just how good these Dylan songs are - how well they hold up over time, and how well they translate when interpreted by other artists.)

Song titles from Oh Mercy include, "Everything is Broken," "Ring Them Bells," "Political World," "What Good Am I?" and "Disease of Conceit."

"Everything Is Broken" is an honest, painful look at the brokenness of our world - not just broken stuff, but broken relationships, broken systems, and the likelihood that nothing "under the sun" is going to change that.

"Ring Them Bells" is one of the most moving songs on the album; it is both hymn and anthem with it's words and deliberately slow but intentional forward cadence...it requires you to take it seriously. Here are a couple verses that illustrate Dylan's worldview, a worldview which includes more than what the eye can see:

Ring them bells St. Peter
Where the four winds blow,
Ring them bells with an iron hand
So the people will know.
Oh it's rush hour now
On the wheel and the plow
And the sun is going down
Upon the sacred cow.

Ring them bells Sweet Martha,
For the poor man's son,
Ring them bells so the world will know
That God is one.
Oh the shepherd is asleep
Where the willows weep
And the mountains are filled
With lost sheep.

(Copyright ©1989 Special Rider Music)

There's more, but these two verses give a glimpse into Dylan's head for those willing to consider what he's saying. The last four lines quoted above are interesting...who is "the shepherd"? What does Dylan mean by "lost sheep"? These are powerful biblical images used especially by the Old Testament prophets, but also by Jesus. While it is dangerous to read meanings into lyrics (I'm tempted to view "the shepherd" as the Church today, failing to be faithful in addressing the brokenness of our culture, and therefore leaving many sheep lost), these lyrics say quite a bit themselves about what Dylan thinks of the current condition of the church, the world, and our culture.

"What Good Am I?" is a powerful examination of a life, an examination the subject fails:

What good am I if I'm like all the rest,
If I just turned away, when I see how you're dressed,
If I shut myself off so I can't hear you cry,
What good am I?

What good am I if I know and don't do,
If I see and don't say, if I look right through you,
If I turn a deaf ear to the thunderin' sky,
What good am I?

What good am I while you softly weep
And I hear in my head what you say in your sleep,
And I freeze in the moment like the rest who don't try,
What good am I?

What good am I then to others and me
If I've had every chance and yet still fail to see
If my hands tied must I not wonder within
Who tied them and why and where must I have been.

What good am I if I say foolish things
And I laugh in the face of what sorrow brings
And I just turn my back while you silently die,
What good am I?

(Copyright ©1989 Special Rider Music)

...

Dylan seems to be relentlessly on tour these days, and continues to perform songs from throughout his 40-plus year career. The set list is constantly changing, to include new music from his latest releases, but he also delights fans with his old hits, and leaves some of them perplexed by his occasional inclusion of his "Christian" songs. For example, at concerts in 2008, Dylan added the song "I Believe In You" from 1979's Slow Train Coming to his set. He sang,

Don’t let me drift too far,
Keep me where you are
Where I will always be renewed.
And that which you’ve given me today
Is worth more than I could pay
And no matter what they say
I believe in you.

(Copyright ©1979 Special Rider Music)

...

So...why has Dylan released a Christmas album? And a Christmas album chock full of traditional Christmas favorites...AND...Christian Christmas carols (I know, "Christian Christmas" is redundant) that proclaim the birth of the Savior of the world?

Well, we should just let Dylan's music speak for him (as I said above, it's dangerous to read into things, much as we're all tempted). He chose "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" to close out the album. It's one of the cuts I've heard (isn't the internet wonderful?!). Clocking in at just over two minutes, with only two of the carol's verses, here are the words from the last song on Dylan's Christmas album, sung slowly, thoughtfully, and even reverently by Dylan and his backup singers:

Oh little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie,
above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shine, in everlasting light,
the hopes and fears of all the years, are met in thee tonight.

How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given;
so God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of all his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.
Amen.

So while there's seasonal fun and frivolity in the songs of this album ("Here Comes Santa Claus," The Christmas Blues" and "Christmas Island"), there is also an abiding and longing faith expressed in Dylan's interpretation of the church's traditional Christmas carols and hymns. Dylan sings the closing "Amen," which means, "truly" or "it is true," leaving us to ponder the meaning of this over our eggnog or hot chocolate.

I'll leave it to you to make up your own mind. As I continue to listen to Dylan's music (and, in my opinion, much of his best music has been written in the past 20 years, as Dylan gets older and wiser), I still hear a passionate prophetic voice whose message will resonate long after the man himself has left this all behind.

Stay connected,

Pastor Mike

*It should be mentioned here that all of Dylan's profits from the album Christmas In The Heart are being donated to various charities in the United States and other countries to feed the hungry.

Tiger Woods - the Legend is Human

2009-12-04T13:09:00.000-08:00

...and right now, not a very pretty picture of humanity.

But an accurate one. And a reminder once again that our heroes can fall, even from very high and seemingly indestructable pedestals.

So what will we learn from Tiger's "transgressions," to use his word for his marital unfaithfulness and chronic adultery?

Tiger Woods is not just the envy of the average man on the street; he's no doubt the envy of quite a few of his fellow star athletes. He's the richest - at somewhere between $800 million and over $1 billion. He's a legend on the golf course, and still young enough to grow that legacy. He has a beautiful wife, if external appearance means anything (and to most of us, it does) and a couple of healthy children.

And yet we've learned in the past two weeks that he has been involved in affairs with several (and maybe more than several) women, who's stories are beginning to be told in the media.

So Tiger Woods is a dirtbag. A sleazeball. A loser. A lowdown, no-good, cheating, carousing, two-timing member of the species.

I know that all sounds harsh, and some will say I'm oversimplifying his "situation." But sometimes the truth is pretty simple. And simple is something that most people, regardless of their moral or religious convictions, recognize pretty quickly and easily. When a married man has sex with another woman, that's adultery. That's cheating on his wife. That's low. It's WRONG. Even our irreligious media can get that one right (especially when it's guaranteed to sell).

I don't mean to single out Tiger Woods, as though he's the only one who ever "transgressed" in this way. The list of folks who have committed adultery is long and is not limited by economic or social class. We all know folks in our own workplaces, neighborhoods, and even churches who have cheated on their spouses (...there's more than one adulterer mentioned in the Bible!). And we know we're all capable of it, too.

I'm singling Tiger out because we observe a powerful truth at work - call it a spiritual truth if you want, but Truth, nonetheless.

Tiger has it all; I've already given the rundown of his accomplishments, blessings and worldly wealth. So you ask, "What more could a man want?" After all, who wouldn't trade places with Tiger Woods (before this past week's revelations, of course!)? And if not trade places, who wouldn't want to experience success at his level? Surely he has life by the tail?

But if we've learned anything, we've learned that success does not guarantee fulfillment. Something in Tiger's head or heart was still yearning, still not fulfilled, still searching. How is that possible, when he seemed to have it all?

Again, this will sound like a simplistic response, but the Truth isn't usually rocket science. Jesus said you can gain the whole world and still lose your soul. You can be so rich your neighbors all envy you, and yet be unhappy and still searching for something - just ask Zaccheaus. Ask any Hollywood star, ask any great athlete. Ask Tiger.

He's not the first to learn this lesson. He won't be the last...as his story slips off the front page there will be others. And there will be those in your circle of friends who won't get their picture in the tabloids.

The question is, what will Tiger learn from this? Anything? Will he do the necessary self-reflection, self-examination that could lead to acknowledging the deeper need in his spirit?

We should pray for Tiger - maybe he's at a place now where he himself has realized how empty his "full" life really is. That can be a good place to be - if we're spiritually open and willing to seek God's grace and redemption.

And every one of us should confess right now, "Lord, but for Your grace, there am I." And we should back away from judging the person (while still judging their behavior for what it is, wrong and hurtful to all concerned). We should see Tiger's fall as a warning of what can happen to any of us if we look for success or fulfillment in this worlds pursuits, accomplishments or treasures.

May you pray for Tiger, and for anyone else you know who is struggling in sin. And then pray for yourself. Ask God to keep you in his grace, and to help you find your life in Him.

Stay connected,

Pastor Mike

Why Giving IS Better Than Receiving

2009-10-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the radio recently when an ad came on offering a "free" vacation to the Caribbean. It said that 500 of these vacations were being offered in our area for a limited time.

Hmmm...what's the catch? Well, the first suspect thing I heard in the ad - which went by very quickly, making it hard to hear all the details (of course) - was that this was a free TWO DAY vacation. That's not very long to spend in the Caribbean. As a matter of fact, they would probably tell you that you can't even get on and off the cruise ship in two days...you will have to add a few more days to the cruise to take advantage of this offer...at your own expense, of course!

Other details escape my memory, but it was a reminder about a lot of the "free" offers that are out there...remember the old saying, "If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is"?

Some "gifts" are like that. They come with strings attached. Whether it's the gift of a free (two day!) Caribbean vacation, or the gift from a friend, relative or business associate who then expects you to remember their generosity when they need something from you!

So why are we such suckers for "free" stuff? Why do we want to believe that we can actually get something for nothing? Life doesn't work that way...there's always a catch. Nothing's really free, and most of the "free" stuff is junk anyway...it either breaks almost immediately, or never lives up to it's promise to begin with.

There's something in the human heart that wants to take the easy route, to get something for free rather than work for it. Which may just be part of our current debt problem in America:

Why should I save up for something I want when I can use a credit card and charge it now?
Why wait?
Why delay my pleasure and gratification of my desires?

This seems to be the attitude of the young man in Jesus' parable about the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). He's the younger of two sons, and he demands his share of his inheritance from his father. He doesn't want to wait to receive what's "rightfully his." He wants to enjoy life now.

The father gives him his share of his inheritance, and soon he's headed for the bright lights of the big city. It's party time! But it doesn't take long for him to burn through all his inheritance, and he goes quickly from being the life of Bourbon Street to being an untouchable street person. The only job he can get it feeding hogs, which for a kosher Jewish boy is not real desirable or good for the ol' ego!

I want to pause here to make a couple observations:

First, I suspect that, while all the spending and high life seemed fun at the time, this young man had little appreciation for what it all cost. His money was easy come, easy go...and I doubt he was really getting much satisfaction from the spending, because he had no idea of the value of that money. He had no idea how much toil, saving and patience was necessary to create that wealth...why would he? It was handed to him.

When we "buy" something on credit, we dont' fully appreciate its value. That leads to lower satisfaction with our purchase. And it leads to the desire for something new again because my pleasure was short-lived.

Second, because he himself did not earn the money through toil, saving and patience, he also did not look ahead and plan for tomorrow. He was living for the moment. He probably thought dad's 'gravy train' would never run dry. He had no sense of self-responsibility. He wasn't tracking his spending, or his bank balance. He wasn't making any effort to take care of his future financial needs with today's time, strength and opportunities.

When we keep spending all that we have - and MORE than we have - today, there will be nothing there to take care of us tomorrow. Which means we will have to continue to work - both for our own needs, but also to pay back whoever else we owe for yesterday's fun and forgotten stuff. And often it means serving someone else, instead of being self-employed or in control of our own life.

While these observations aren't the main point of the story of the prodigal son (I'll get to that in a future post), they point to some important principles for living that I've talking about in this current sermon series on stewardship:

1) God wants us to be content with what we have, so that we will be good stewards of the wealth he entrusts to us. Toil, savings and patience lead to a personal balance sheet and net worth that's in the black instead of in the red. But you will only exercise the discipline necessary to live this way if you truly trust God to meet your needs and CHOOSE to be content with what you have. That's right, contentment is a CHOICE! And I'm going to talk about this on Sunday...the message is called "Cultivating Contentment." Contentment makes saving and planning wisely for the future possible.

2) When you choose contentment - and over time develop a net worth that's in the black - you have resources that can be used for your own needs and wants, but they can also be used for God's purposes. You have the financial means to invest in worthy causes and ministries. You have the resources to help someone else who has hit a rough spot. You have the resources to invest in your own or someone else's great idea for a product or enterprise than can create more wealth for the future. And you will likely create more jobs and livelihoods for other persons, blessing their lives as well!

Why is GIVING better than RECEIVING?

Because if you are in a position to GIVE, it means you have disciplined yourself to earn and save, creating wealth that can help others. It means you are being a responsible, productive person and you are using the gifts and resources God has entrusted to you in faithful stewardship. And someday you will hear those words of Jesus spoken in another parable, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

So while sometimes it certainly is a blessing to receive (it certainly has been at times in my life)...

...it is truly the greater blessing to GIVE than to RECEIVE.

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike

It's NOT the Economy, Stupid!

2009-10-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

The number one concern of most Americans right now is the economy and jobs. We've had several church members lose their jobs in recent weeks. Many more are concerned about further cuts that could happen in their workplace.

Meanwhile, most of us aren't prepared for a layoff. Americans are saving between -1% and 1% of their income! (This compares with an average savings rate in China of around 25%!) And we are in debt - the average credit card debt in America is over $9,000.

Our federal government reflects 'we the people,' with debt that is growing daily and is in the hundreds of billions of dollars, money that we are borrowing from other countries and will have to repay - someday, somehow.

What's our problem?

Guess what - it's NOT the economy!

While we definitely have financial problems, our money crisis is a symptom of a deeper problem. All of our spending and borrowing and debt points to a flaw in our collective character (and our individual minds and hearts).

In spite of having so much - in fact, having all that we need and more...

...we are not CONTENT.

We are restless, bored, searching for something ... and in the process we shop, we buy, we borrow, we travel and vacation and entertain ourselves - we go deeper into debt, and still feel the same restless dissatisfaction.

What's missing inside each on of us that keeps pushing us to want more?

Part of what's missing is a sense of purpose and identity...

...what's missing is knowing WHO I am and WHY I'm here.

We have an internal need or desire for significance and purpose, and unless we fulfill this, we are restless. Our antidote is to spend, spend, spend and we are in serious debt, which leads to further stress - and often more spending!

This internal desire for purpose is something that God put in us when we were created as human beings. We're not satisfied to just consume and act like animals. We need something more to be fulfilled. We need to give and contribute. We need to know we're making a difference.

This is a spiritual issue - that is, it goes beyond the physical or the biological - or the financial! God created us as spiritual beings, and part of our spiritual fulfillment comes from learning his purposes for us. God is our compass and roadmap. No wonder Jesus said he was the light, and the bread of life. Without him we're directionless and hungry for more...even when we've gorged ourselves on food and pleasure.

This Sunday will be the second in our series called "Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity." I'm going to address this issue - helping us be clear about our purpose and calling. When we discover and accept God's plans and purposes for our lives, we are able to experience the freedom that comes from contentment.

I'll also share some simple financial principles we all need to remember to act wisely in the area of finances; that's why this message is entitled "Wisdom and Finance."

And we're giving every person who attends Sunday a 'sticky card' (that you can stick to your bathroom mirror or a window) that has these important financial principles on it. This tool will be a daily reminder to encourage you to be content and discover God's deeper purpose for your life!

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday!

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike

The Right PLACE to Share Christ?

2009-10-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

In my previous blog post, I suggested that as Christians we need to be careful about WHERE we go and the ACTIVITIES we're involved in with our non-Christian (I also used the term "pre-Christian") friends. Specifically, I suggested that hanging out in bars (or other questionable places) can be problematic for believers, since there are usually temptations we should avoid.

I received an excellent response to my comments from a pastor (who I am blessed to know as a friend and colleague in ministry) who serves in a smaller community where sometimes the bar is the only place in town to get a sandwich or connect with people. (This was true when we lived in St. Edward, NE, as well; the two places in town where you could sit down and have a decent lunch were the Hitching Post Bar (& Grill) or the City Cafe, which was connected to the Polka Dot Lounge.)

He made some valid points with passion and clarity, so I asked his permission to share his comments, which I'll follow up with a couple thoughts in response. (And thanks, brother, for letting me share your wise words!)

I like your BLOG... and the layout and photos are great... but I would like to comment on one item: the bar! I have another perspective.

In some locations the bar is the ONLY place to hang out! To eat, to get a diet Pepsi or iced tea... and the only place where a Christian may have constant contact with acquaintances who NEED to HAVE a Christian friend.

While I agree that hanging out in the bar to drink and ogle the opposite sex is a very bad habit to develop, and some bars are nothing but trouble... not every bar is like that.

My church members would tell you that I have made a quantifiable mark on this community by hanging out in the bar. While there, I am clearly identified by the patrons as "Pastor," so that everybody else knows that I am there too! As a result the language has improved, the atmosphere has changed and quite a number of people come and sit with me to ask their religious and philosphical questions. Several have started attending church. Several have requested that I do their funerals. Two have accepted Christ on their death beds!

THAT's why I hang out at the bar in (name of town where he serves). However, if the bishop moves us in the future... somewhere like Lincoln or Omaha... (who knows?) I'm going to find a good bar to hang out in! Because hanging out in this one has made an incredible difference over a three year period.

I don't like foul language, men hitting on women & vice versa, or loud obnoxious arguments... but in three years that has died down quite a bit... because most of the people know there's a Christian pastor in the bar who preaches what he believes and believes what he preaches. Sometimes they try to "shock" me... but my failure to react generally produces an apology. It has actually been fun!

Not to mention that there are a bunch of people who don't have a pastor. That's my OTHER congregation.

I appreciate the perspective my friend has offered. It emphasizes an important point or principle:

What is your intention for going to a place (bar, etc.) where Christians would not normally hang out? Are you going there "armored up" in prayer - with the intent of being salt and light, or are you going there "broken up" and planning to drown your sorrows or look for comfort and encouragement from the wrong person?

Answer these questions honestly, and you'll know whether it's right for your to be there.

My pastor friend has shared that there is potential for serious ministry to happen in unlikely (or maybe the most likely!) places. Jesus didn't shy away from such places or persons. He spent a lot of time sharing his passion for the least, the last and the lost, and connecting with them and their needs. It all depends on your intention; your spiritual maturity and your willingness to be used by God.

So....are you taking Jesus with you when you go to such places?

That's the ultimate litmus test.

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike

Who Should I Be Spending Time With?

2009-10-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Here's an excellent question someone texted to me at the end of last Sunday's (October 4) sermon:

How do we balance bringing lost people to Christ with not keeping "bad" company?

Someone else texted me nearly the same question, so it was obviously a blind spot in my message!

For those of you who weren't there, the message was "WHY (join the) CHURCH?" I gave several reasons why I believe Christians need to be connected to each other in the body of Christ:

1) We all need healing in our human relationships. All of our relationships are broken and damaged in some way by sin, and in the body of Christ, through God's grace, we learn how to have healthy relationships with others. We discover healthy connections based on unconditional love, forgiveness and grace rather than performance, perfection or possession.

2) We reflect God most accurately when we are in healthy relationships with those around us. Before the world existed, there was God alone, but God was not alone! God was in fellowship - in connection and relationship, if you will - as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We were created in God's image, and deep within our "God image" is the need for relationship with others. People are hungy for authentic friendship and relationship; the church should be a place where people experience these kinds of meaningful connection.

3) We cannot grow as disciples of Jesus Christ without vital connections with other growing Christians. Spiritual growth happens as we study together, pray together, worship and serve together. We need modeling. Jesus own disciples needed to spend time with him in order to be influenced by him. Those we spend significant amounts of time with will influence us the most.

So...we need to be connected with other believers in the church in order to keep our spiritual life vital and growing.

But we also need to reach the lost. This is accomplished as we build relationships with them so that our witness to them is genuine and based on real connection, not just shallow attempts to "win them for Jesus." And most of us have non-Christian friends, neighbors and co-workers with whom we spend significant time.

So back to our question:

How do we balance bringing lost people to Christ with not keeping "bad" company?

I'll just offer a couple suggestions, and perhaps others will chime in here from their own wisdom and experience (I would welcome that!).

First, WHERE are you spending time with your non-Christian friends? Is it an unhealthy atmosphere? Is it a place that promotes unhealthy relationships? It's one thing to go out to dinner or go to a sporting event (or concert, etc.) with friends, it's another thing to spend the evening at a bar or other place where the main purpose is to consume lots of "adult beverages" and "check out" members of the opposite sex.

Did I put that delicately enough?

Throughout scripture there are warnings about avoiding evil or wicked people and the activities of those who do not honor or worship God. Psalm 1:1 says,

"Blessed (or 'happy') are those

who do not follow the advice of the wicked,

or take the path that sinners tread,

or sit in the seat of scoffers..."

St. Paul says, "Don't be deceived: Bad company ruins good morals" (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Second, is this activity (or group of persons) conducive to healthy relationships, or am I likely to be tempted to think or act in ways that would compromise my Christian faith and witness? You may say to yourself, "I'm strong, I know my limits," and so on, but be realistic. We're all human and we're all subject to temptation. Why put yourself in that kind of atmosphere, and why go there with a non-Christian friend (or friends), seeming to lend your approval to them going there by your presence?

Jesus says, "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16). In other words, "Don't kid yourself, don't be naive and stupid."

God wants us to reach out to the unbelievers around us with genuine love, building relationships that will help them see Christ in us. You need to be wise and discern how to build those relationships. That includes what you do when you spend time together, and the kinds of places you go for "fellowship."

Can you always avoid meeting in a place where you're uncomfortable? No, obviously not. But be aware of your witness in that atmosphere, and look for opportunities to spend time with your non-Christian friends in places where you can demonstrate and share the love of Christ in positive, grace-giving ways.

Find the balance in your life. Spend time with fellow Christians so that you are growing spiritually and being strengthened in your faith. Spend time with your "pre-Christian" friends and associates when there are opportunities for building bridges of authentic friendship where God's grace can work.

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike

Stop Trying To Be Good!

2009-10-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest dangers to your spiritual growth, and mine, is trying to be a good person. I know, I know, you think I've really lost it now! But keep reading...

Christianity differs from every other belief system in that your status with God is not based on your good works; your achievements (whether moral, financial, athletic, academic, social, etc.). Your status with God is totally based on God’s grace given to you (a “free” gift), and living your life daily out of that received grace, merited through Jesus Christ.

But many Christians stop walking in the grace that they accepted when they experienced the new birth. They stop walking in that daily gift of forgiveness, new every morning. Instead, they - you and me - start working at it, and pretty soon, we start thinking it's more about our effort rather than God's gift.

Eventually we Christians start basing our spiritual journey on our activity rather than our adoption.

When John Wesley had his "Aldersgate experience" of God's acceptance by grace through faith, and realized that his sins were forgiven, he said he went from being a "servant" of God to being a "son" of God; he went from living on the porch to living in the house as a member of the family.

Many of us move back to the porch; we start acting like servants of God again instead of beloved children. We lose the joy of our relationship as a child of God, loved and cherished! We become like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son, who said to his father, "Look, all these many years I have served you..." (Luke 15:29).

He had no joy in his relationship with his father; it was all work and drudgery.

And he despised his own brother.

Why? Because the younger brother didn't live up to his high standard. And even though the younger brother realized what a fool he'd been, and came home repentant - willing to be a servant to his father - the older brother judged him unworthy.

He wouldn't even call him "brother" anymore. He referred to him as,"this son of yours" when speaking to his father (15:30).

This is the danger for you and me. If we are working ourselves to the nubs for God - with the attitude of the older brother - trust me; we will be keeping score. And most people aren't going to meet our high standard. And if they get close, we'll raise the bar higher!

Because we've slipped into "works-righteousness." We've stopped receiving God's gift. Now we're trying to earn it.  We set standards others can't meet, trying to make ourselves look better while everyone else comes up short.

We become Pharisees.

Paul the apostle shared his heart in Philippians 3, confessing that he used to live this kind of life:

       "We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
       "I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law...and as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
       "I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (Phil. 3:3-8, New Living Translation)

So another danger of this attitude is hinted at by Paul: if I'm earning it myself, I don't need Jesus. I can manage.

Friends, this is NOT Christianity. It is counterfeit faith. It produces judgmental Christians and churches. It divides us instead of uniting us. It's the hypocrisy that the world sees in us. And it's ugly.

Take a few moments and examine your heart.  Let the Holy Spirit shine a light into the rooms in your spiritual house and check your motivations:

Are you walking freely in grace today?
Or are you anxious about all you need to do.
Are you keeping score for yourself, and for others?

After you've spent some time reflecting on this, put all the wrong motives and judgmental attitudes at the foot of the cross. Thank Jesus again for offering himself for you, and thank him again for his gift of eternal life - unmerited, unearned, yours by faith in Christ alone!

When you've left that burden at the cross, please come back in the house, and join the family at the table!

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike

The JESUS Question...Is Jesus the Only Way?

2009-10-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

After last Sunday's sermon "Why (choose) Christianity," I received several questions from persons that can be summed up in this question that was texted to me:

"If Jesus is the only way...what happens to those who don't hear about Jesus?"

A related question asked, "What about those who lived before Jesus was born?"

And of course, the most direct question like this, simply put, is this, "Isn't saying that Jesus is the only way of salvation descriminating against those who believe something else, or practice a different religion?"

These questions all arise out of our desire to be fair, to appear open-minded, and to not be seen as intolerant by others. ("Tolerance" has become THE highest virtue in our culture today! But, as we see in our society over and over again, "tolerance" can be pretty intolerant of the views of others when it becomes the supreme value to which we must bow. More about this later in another post.)

So again, our question:

"If Jesus is the only way...
...what happens to those who don't hear about Jesus?"

Christians believe that God loves all that he has created, and it is his desire that all persons come to him through his gift of grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. (Most other religions also believe in the need for 'salvation' and offer some 'way' to achieve it.) But many persons were born before Jesus ever lived, and there are many more who have been born since Jesus lived who have never heard of him (after all, we haven't always had You Tube!).

God loves all these persons, but they haven't heard the gospel message of Jesus. How can they know of God's gifts of love, grace and salvation?

The reality of our human condition is that we have ALL sinned. Every person who has ever lived "falls short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). None of us have met God's perfect, holy standard. We have all lived less than perfect lives; we're selfish, we gossip, we steal, we lust, we want what others have. If we're being honest, we all know that we're imperfect; we know we are without excuse...and this will become painfully true for each one of us when we stand before our holy, perfect Creator.

So we all need forgiveness. Every person needs God's gift of grace through Christ to redeem our less than perfect lives.

The New Testament tells us how persons will receive this chance to hear the good news even if they are not reached in this life. In 1 Peter 3:18-20 we read:

       "For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water."

When it says Christ "went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison," some scholars believe this is a reference to Christ sharing the good news of salvation so that they will have an opportunity to respond. This is further supported by Peter's words a few verses later in 1 Peter 4:5-6:

       "But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does."

God's desire is that we would "live in the spirit as God does." He will provide every person a day for salvation as well as a day for judgment. This is the righteous, perfect God that we worship!

In Romans 14:9 Paul writes:

       "For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living."

Jesus will reign over the living and the dead. (James says that even the demons believe that he is Lord, and they shudder in fear [James 2:19].) He is Lord of all, those who receive him, and those who reject him. There are persons who hear the good news but reject Christ; God gives us this freedom and this choice. God will not force anyone to worship him or spend eternity in his presence. But God's desire is for every person to receive Christ's gift of forgiveness and salvation.

For this reason, and based on the texts above, I believe every person will have an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.

But how much better for us, and for every person, to know we have eternal life today, right now? For this reason the church - and every member of Christ's body - must share his message, so that all can receive this Good Gift!

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike

The Jesus Question...Why Jesus?

2009-09-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

"WHY (believe in) JESUS?"

Why Jesus?
Isn't claiming that Jesus is unique intolerant?
What about other religions, other "ways to God?"
How can someone claim that one way is better than others?

All religions make some unique, distinct truth claims that could be labeled intolerant. Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and other religions have doctrines (truth claims) that distinguish them from one another. And, in reality, persons who are secular/non-religious, agnostic or athiest also make distinctive truth claims which can't be reconciled with what others believe, and are therefore, by the same definition, intolerant.

Everyone has some sort of belief system which does two things:

(1) their belief system makes truth claims which cannot be reconciled with other faith's truth claims, and

(2) at the foundation, every belief system is based on faith, because all of its truth claims cannot be proven by scientific observation, reason or logic. This is as true of the athiest's beliefs as it is of the Christian's beliefs...both accept some tenets of their belief system by faith, not scientific evidence.

So why be Christian instead of agnostic, or Muslim, or Wiccan? Is it fair to say Christianity is superior to any of these other faiths/belief systems/worldviews?

I believe the answer to that question is a resounding "yes!" - or I would not and could not be a Christian minister (or even a Christian, period). I could not and would not ask others to be part of the Christian faith if I didn't believe it accurately spoke about life, God, truth, and salvation.

Last Sunday (September 20), I asked the question, "Why believe in Jesus?" Jesus has been a polarizing figure in history for 2,000 years. He has received the devotion and worship of millions (likely over a billion people on earth today are Christians), but he is only seen as a great teacher or religious leader by many others, and even as a myth by many, who doubt he ever lived.

There is plenty of evidence that Jesus was a real, historical person. A number of first century A.D. and later texts - both Christian and non-Christian historical texts - speak of Jesus as a 1st century Jew who lived in Palestine. Josephus is one such historian from the 1st century who mentions Jesus several times, acknowledging him as a religious leader who had many followers.

The Christian movement from the first century on is evidence for Jesus as well; without the historical figure of Jesus (whom his followers believed not only suffered and died on a Roman cross, but was also raised from the dead with a recognizable body), why would these people suffer for their beliefs, and in many cases even suffer death because they would not recant their faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah?

The answer is: their belief in Jesus resurrection - and consequently their own resurrection after death - was so strong a conviction that they were willing to remain faithful to his teachings, and even to suffer loss of reputation, health and life itself.

Another reason I believe Jesus is, in his own words, "the way, the truth, and the life," is because he himself made these claims about himself, and he never backed away from them. No other teacher or leader of another religion has claimed to be a savior. Many have claimed to be - and have been lauded as - great teachers, but Jesus claimed to be more. He claimed to be sent from God and he claimed to be the Savior of the world.

Other religious leaders have pointed to the divine.
Jesus alone has claimed to BE divine.

He could not make that kind of a claim without stirring up some questions and some doubts from people. Jesus definitely stirred people up - and he still does today! The Pharisees and other Jewish religious leaders of his own day understood exactly what Jesus was claiming for himself, and they plotted to destroy him for his claims. They were convinced that Jesus' claims about himself were blasphemy against their Jewish faith, Torah and traditions.

But many others believed Jesus, including a few of the religious leaders, like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Why? Because Jesus' teachings resonated in their hearts and minds as truth, but also because he did miraculous things ("signs") which were evidence that he was no mere man; he exhibited power over nature, sickness and even death (Lazarus' death, and later his own death) which created belief in many persons.

One of the great minds of the 20th century, C.S. Lewis, wrote extensively about the evidence for Jesus as the Son of God and the savior of the world in a number of books, but particularly in Mere Christianity. Even though baptized as an infant, Lewis became an agnostic in his youth, then became a brilliant professor of medieval literature at Oxford University in England.

As Lewis wrestled more and more with the claims of Christianity, he finally concluded that the evidence was overwhelming: he became a Christian (around the age of 30), joined the Church of England, and spent the rest of his life defending the faith and writing marvelous books to help others deepen their faith in Christ (including the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Screwtape Letters, and The Space Trilogy).

One often quoted passage from Mere Christianity succinctly makes the argument for Jesus as savior of the world:

       I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say.

       A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher.

       He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.

Lewis's words resonate with my mind and with my soul; perhaps they do with yours as well. Many others have written powerful arguments for the Christian faith (these arguments are called 'apologies,' and arguing for the faith is called 'apologetics'). One recent author who comes to mind is Lee Strobel, an agnostic journalist who examined the claims of Christ, eventually became a believer, and wrote the excellent The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus. This book has helped many persons examine the claims of Christianity and the struggles and questions that are often raised about faith in Jesus Christ.

I look forward to hearing from you if you have unanswered questions about why we should accept Jesus as the savior of the world. And remember, no question is too silly or insignificant to ask if you are honestly struggling with it! So please ask, and let's keep the conversation going, and

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike

G.A.S.

2009-09-18T14:09:00.001-07:00

That stand for "gear acquisition syndrome," or, more specifically (in my case), "guitar acquisition syndrome."

Occasionally someone will ask me, "How many guitars do you have?" I think this is because I play for worship, and people see a revolving door of instruments from week to week. And I don't mind that question, really.

Unless Kathy Jo is standing there.

Then she always repeats the question, only with more urgency, "Yes, how many guitars DO YOU have?" It's no longer a casual question, it's an interrogation!

Now, to be fair, she has to live with my, uh, G.A.S. illness, so I don't blame her for asking...with that tone.

So...how many guitars do I have? A few. Um okay, a few more than that. More than I need. Probably even a few more than that. Let me explain (here comes my twisted rationale!):

I got into building guitars because I play left-handed. Playing guitar left-handed (or "backwards") can be a curse when you're looking for a good instrument, or an instrument with particular options, beccause most guitar manufacturers don't offer much for us lefties: a few beginner instruments, and a couple generic ones from their better lines - IF we're lucky.

So, in around 1995, I decided I wanted something specific in an electric guitar, and of course, it just didn't exist in left-handed configuration. So I decided to try building my own. Not from scratch (I didn't have the tools necessary, and also didn't have the skills from some of the intricate work, like fretting a neck), but from premanufactured parts.

So more than a few of my guitars are "guitar projects." They're guitars that I've built out of parts: necks bodies, pickups, tuners, etc. Over the past 15 years or so, this has become as much of a hobby and interest to me as playing guitar has been for over twice that long (started playing when I was 13, I'm 51 now...).

And the guitars I build are always changing, morphing, getting modded ... changing pickups, or swapping necks on a couple guitars, just to try something different. It's almost as much fun to have a screwdriver in my grip as a guitar pick! Change a neck, and presto! A NEW guitar! (So sometimes what you see on Sunday morning is not something new, but version III or IV of an instrument...)

And there's always another idea for a new build on the horizon...so every once in a while another 'project' is born!

Most of the parts I use come from a company in Puyallup, Washington; Warmoth Guitar Parts. They make excellent necks and bodies, and most everything is available for lefties like me. In the photo at the begining of this post are my current Warmoth guitars.

Another company that offers parts and kits as well as their own line of guitars is Carvin Corporation, in San Diego, California. They also get my business because they are very lefty-friendly, and the owners of the company are Christians. In every catalog, they have this quote:

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth;
make a loud noise and rejoice and sing praise!
Sing to the Lord with the harp and the voice of the psalm."
--Psalm 98:4-5

Another interesting thing about Carvin's founder, Lowell Kiesel (d. 12-29-2009), is that he grew up on a farm near Gothenburg, Nebraska! Small world!

As I said, Carvin offers both kits and completed instruments, and I have some of each (I'll let you try to figure out which is which!):

G.A.S.
Guitar acquisition syndrome.

Not so much a disease as a passion. Because every guitar is an experiment...part of the quest for
"that" sound or look, or ease of playing.

And it's the opportunity to "make music" - being a part of that creative process that is one of God's gifts to us - from the very beginning, starting with some wood, wire and a few tools.

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike

What I Learned in Japan

2009-09-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

In July I traveled to Japan with my youngest daughter, Jill, to see her sister, my oldest daughter, Annie. (Here we are in Hiroshima, at the Peace Memorial Park; me, Annie & Jill.)I haven't traveled overseas since I was a 'military brat' and lived outside Madrid, Spain for four years (1970-74).

So it was interesting to visit another culture again, and it was much more interesting, even fruitful, to travel around with our daughter, Annie, who has lived there for a year (she is teaching English in three elementary schools). We definitely got a much better 'taste' of the culture because Annie was our tour guide!

(Thank you, Annie, for being such a wonderful host! You've learned so much and you've already made a lot of progress with the Japanese language!)

Visiting another culture always has some 'shock value' if our eyes are open, and I'm going to share a few rambling observations about differences between Japan's culture and ours.

First of all, Japan is both very 'eastern / traditional' and very 'western / modern.' They have managed to synthesize their culture and values with modern technology fairly successfully...for the most part; I'll say a little more about that later.

Second, because Japan is a very densely populated nation - 130 million people sharing a thin land mass about the length of our east coast - they don't waste real estate the way we do - trying to grow nice green yards of grass that only create unnecessary labor and expense, but nothing of any real value (okay, except for some unquantifiable amount of 'property value').

No, the Japanese people use the land around their homes to plant gardens...rice (if they have enough flat land for it), grapes, vegetables, fruits (grapes and peaches are abundant where Annie lives); anyone who lives outside of the large cities and has a little patch of yard is a farmer of sorts.

Also, because Japan is densely populated, and people are literally almost on top of each other, they have to get along with each other. People everywhere were polite, and they are careful not to make waves or do things that would disturb those around them...for this reason alone, I'm convinced the Japanese invented headphones! People everywhere have their Ipods - with headphones - on; I didn't see any boom boxes or hear loud, obnoxious music in public.

On the bus from Tokyo to Hiroshima (which we rode all night!) after our first stop, around 10:30 p.m., it was lights out: curtains closed, no talking, and everyone slept. Again, a few had on their Ipod/headset, but no one seemed to be trying to read with a book light on or anything; that would not be polite.

Fourth, looking around at the size of the typical Japanese person, I realized - I am big. Not just tall; I saw some Japanese men taller than me...no, I mean BIG. Heavy. Gravitationally challenged. A chub. Mister Blimp. Godzilla without the teeth, scales and tail. I finally got used to this and stopped thinking about it - until I arrived at the airport in Tokyo (Narita) for my flight home, when I started seeing other Americans again. Big Americans, heavy Americans...you get the idea. It was embarrassing...

The Japanese diet is very different from ours, as is their lifestyle. They do a LOT of walking and bike riding, even though there are an abundance of cars in Japan (nice cars, too). They climb lots of stairs (and escalators - many Japanese don't 'ride' escalators, they walk up and down escalators; you stay to the left so they can pass you on the right) on their way to the trains and subways. They climb stairs even to get to McDonalds...everything in Japan is built 'up' so even a McDonalds has three floors; you order on one floor and go upstairs to level two or three to sit down and eat.

So, yes of course, they've been invaded by McDonald's and other western fare (we also ate at Subway and even Shakey's Pizza while we were there!), but their traditional diet consists of lots of rice - also fruits, vegetables, fish, pork, soy products (tofu and sweet bean spreads) and some breads and pastries (the Japanese have their own way of doing pizza - even at Shakey's!).

And our diet? Our American diet consists of way too much soybean and soybean/products and corn/corn products, including high fructose corn syrup and lots of foods fried in corn oil (not to mention all our corn-fed beef, chicken and pork!). And way too few fruits and vegetables. I'll blog about this more later, but I'll just mention one informative and eye-opening book about our diet, by Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Pengiun Press, 2008). Ironically, I happened to take this book with me to Japan, and was convicted of the need for a drastic overhaul of my eating habits, which I'm working on. But I'm still big...way too big...

Fifth (I think we're on fifth!), I discovered how jaded I am in my view of other human beings, particularly other races and nationalities. When we first started walking the streets and riding the subways of Tokyo, all the Japanese people looked alike to me...just a massive blur of people with a darker complexion than mine, brown eyes and black hair.

But after about two days, I noticed something. Like Paul the apostle after his road to Damascus experience of blindness - it was as though scales fell off my eyes, and I saw the amazing richness and variety of the Japanese people! Everyone different, every one an individual, every person exhibiting their own mannerisms and habits and personality - extroverts, introverts, some smiling, some serious, everything, everyone.

I don't know how to say anything more about this without sounding like a shallow American tourist, but that's what I was. God helped me to see the uniqueness and God-image (imago dei) in every Japanese person, and they are truly a beautiful people.

After 10 days in Japan, I understand the love my daughter Annie has for these people and their nation and culture, and the deep desire and calling she feels to serve Christ there and reach out to them with the gospel.

I need to add that it was a humbling experience, being reminded that we Americans (we Yanks) can learn so much from others, and the Japanese people have certainly been good stewards of their natural resources and their people resources in growing an amazing economy that has given the world many wonderful new technologies, while reminding us that some 'old ways' are worth keeping and sustaining.

...

Yes, they are an amazing people who have assimilated much of our western technology and values while maintaining their rich, traditional culture...for the most part. But there is also darkness among these beautiful people: they do not have the hope of Christ. Many of them struggle in a very competitive society; competitive schools, universities, and professions. Japan has a very high suicide rate; and it has gone even higher in the past few years with their bad economy (about a decade ahead of our recent downturn).

For whatever reason, the Japanese people have been very resistant to the gospel. The most recent statistic I've read is that about 9% of the Japanese people are Christians - and this is actually much higher than I thought ( I remember it being 2-4% Christian), so the gospel is gaining ground!

Join me in praying for them to be able to hear and receive the gospel message. Pray for persons like Annie, and those in her church (and other churches) that are reaching out to the Japanese people with the love of Christ. They are hungry for this love in a culture that does not outwardly demonstrate love and acceptance, even though they are certainly polite and gracious. May God's grace make them truly gracious, and change the hearts of these amazing people!

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike

What is God's Name?

2009-09-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

After last Sunday's sermon, "WHY (the idea of) GOD?" someone texted me the following excellent question:

"Does it matter what we call God? If we believe in a power greater than ourselves that defines good and evil must we call him God?"

Great question! I simply could not do this question justice in a minute or two at the end of my sermon.

Does it matter what we call God? Does "God" have a proper name? First, I would make this observation: If there is a God, then God must have certain attributes, certain qualities or characteristics...so we would say God has an identity and personality, extending from "personhood" (in a divine or otherworldly sense, if you will, but beyond human personhood).

What we can know about God must be deduced from looking at the world he has made (please excuse my use of the male gender for God in these posts, it's simply easier than switching back and forth or constantly avoiding the use of pronouns - it becomes awkward to always write "God" rather than he, him, his, etc. I am not making the assumption that God is male versus female; that's a theological discussion for a different post!).

God has made an intelligent, orderly, beautiful, useful world in which we live, and yet we could also say that God has made some things we don't fully appreciate, like wasps, sharks, flys, germs, tornadoes, etc. But even though we may not appreciate them, through observatioin we learn that many of them have a place in the world, contributing somehow to the balance and rhythm of nature.

From looking at this evidence, we would deduce that God is intelligent, rational, caring (he has provided food and many other resources for our use), and orderly. None of this tells us God's name, but it tells us a great deal about God.

But does this God have a proper name? If God does have a proper name, then he would have to reveal it to us somehow...because all of this evidence around us still does not tell us a proper name for God. It's not written in the heavens, it's not carved into a tree...God will have to reveal his name to us if we are to know what to call him.

Most of the world's religions claim to reveal who God is, and many have particular names for God. As Christians we don't have a particular name for God, although in the Old Testament, which is part of our scriptures, God revealed himself to Moses as, "I Am that I Am." One of the Hebrew names for God, the holy, unspoken name of God, consists of the consonants, "YHWH," which scholars pronounce, "Yahweh."

Which leads into the topic for next Sunday's message, "WHY (believe in) JESUS?" Because of the teachings of Jesus, I believe God can be known to us. Speaking about God, Jesus called God "Father." And about God the Father, Jesus said, "If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him" (John 14:7).

Jesus then responds to a question by one of his disciples, Philip, by explaining that he (Jesus) is a reflection of who God is: "Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me..." (Jn. 14: 11). Often in his teachings, Jesus made the claim that he was from God, and that his purpose was to reveal God to us.

So we have to make a decision based on the information in the Bible; the teachings of Jesus, the other teachings in the Bible:

Does Jesus actually and accurately reveal God to us? Can God be known through Jesus? What evidence do we have to make this claim, or to believe this?

And that is what I will be talking about this Sunday, September 20!

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike

WHY (the idea of) GOD

2009-09-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I began a new sermon series, "Answering the 'Why' Questions."

They're probably not the FIRST 'why' questions you and I would ask, but they ARE the 'why' questions that are ultimately behind most of our other questions about what's happening in our every day lives.

In other words, if you keep asking 'why' after every answer to your initial questions (like a child does - always when you seem to have the least mental energy to explain!), you eventually end up here, at these "first order" questions.

So...question #1 is: "WHY (the idea of) GOD?" Why even "believe in" God? As I said Sunday, there are a number of compelling CLUES that God is there, I'll briefly summarize a few here:

1. More and more scientists subscribe to "The Big Bang" theory of the creation of the universe, and most of them acknowledge that there had to be a Creator - a Thoughtful Initiator of the actual beginning, the "big bang". Among many contemporary scientists who agree that there must be a creator are theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and geneticist Francis Collins, who has mapped out our human DNA with the Human Genome Project.

2. We live in a world that is welcoming to life as we know it. For human, animal and plant life as we know it to exist, the fundamental regularities and constants of physics—the speed of light, the gravitational constant, and many other physical, chemical and biological factors—all must have values that together fall into an extremely and almost impossibly narrow range.

The probability of this perfect set of factors happening by chance is so tiny as to be statistically negligible. Add to this our growing understanding of the complexity of our world - everything from the earth's balanced eco-system to our own human bodies, and the evidence of intelligent design keeps mounting.

3. Along with complexity clue mentioned above, is the consistency clue: when I boil eggs this morning, they will boil at the same temperature they did yesterday...no matter what day of the week it is, if I put my hand on the stove right after I boil the eggs, I will get burned. Scientific forces operate in a consistent, measurable, knowable way. Therefore life can be lived by an understood pattern. This is a clue that some intelligent force is at work in the universe; all is not chaos.

4. There are many other clues that have been given, but I'll end with this one: we have inner longings, unfulfilled desires, that nothing in this world seems to be able to fulfill - we long for knowledge of who we are and where we came from and why we are here. We have other longings, and those longings can be fulfilled: we get hungry, there is food to take care of that, we get tired, so we sleep. We desire other things, like sex, intimacy with others, friendship - all of these desires can be fulfilled.

And yet, even when these desires are ALL met, we are left wanting something more - why? Why would we have a desire for something more if that "something" where not real, did not exist, or could not be attained? This is another important clue that there is a God, a Creator with whom we desire connection, and from whom we seek purpose and fulfillment.

We have come to label this part of life or existence "spiritual." It is difficult to describe, but we know it is "there," we sense it, we wonder about it, yes, we even desire it.

I believe God created us with that desire...something that could not be fulfilled by sex, food or other earthly means...so that our lives here would be restless, and so that we might discover the Grand Design for which we were created.

Only then can we be "fulfilled" in the deepest sense of what that means.

I'll try to answer a few questions I've received in my next blog here, probably tomorrow. For now, I want to remind you that our topic for next Sunday, September 20, is "WHY (believe in) JESUS?." I look forward to seeing you then!

I mentioned several books last Sunday that you might find helpful related to the topic of "WHY (the idea of) GOD?" Here is the information for these, and I'll try to add some relevant books to each week's topic.

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller (2008, Riverhead Books/The Penguin Group)

The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Dr. Francis S. Collins (2006, Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster)

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (1952, current edition, 2001, Harper/San Francisco)

Love God With All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul by J.P. Moreland (1997, NavPress, The Navigators)

Stay connected...

Pastor Mike