Monday, August 10, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Back to School
Today, I dropped off my 5th grade daughter and 1st grade son for their first day of school this year. Going back to school is such a big event in the life of a child. New teacher(s), new classroom(s), new classmates, new schedule, and all of that after having just enjoyed months of what my daughter terms "freedom".
Last weekend our church, The Bridge, and a local hotel, America's Best Inn & Suites, helped some of the children in our community get ready to go back to school by providing backpacks, clothes, haircuts, and hearing & vision exams, through the Give-A-Kid-A-Chance program.
This coming weekend, The Bridge will be a distribution point for school supplies in conjunction with Bartow Collaborative. The kids will receive notebooks, pencils, erasers and all that good stuff so, hopefully, they can go back to school with all the "stuff" they will need to succeed.
While we are giving "stuff" to the kids and their families, I hope that we are also able to give them something else they will need to succeed: the love of God. My hope is that they will know that God loves them and so do I and that is why I give my time, money and energy to help. There may be many things people feel ill-equipped to do in the church: teach, lead, heal, prophesy. But anybody, and I mean anybody, can take a few hours and a few dollars to demonstrate the love of God.
James, one of the first followers of Jesus, wrote that our faith in God has to motivate us to help people when we know that they are in need (James 2:14-17). Do you know anybody who needs help? Can you help? Are you involved with a church that has ways for you to help people in your community? Can you help?
Helping feels good, for sure, but it goes deeper than that. Much deeper. In an act of selflessness, giving something of yourself just to benefit somebody in need, you are participating in the Divine, the Holy. Try it soon and see. I know I'm glad I did.
Last weekend our church, The Bridge, and a local hotel, America's Best Inn & Suites, helped some of the children in our community get ready to go back to school by providing backpacks, clothes, haircuts, and hearing & vision exams, through the Give-A-Kid-A-Chance program.
This coming weekend, The Bridge will be a distribution point for school supplies in conjunction with Bartow Collaborative. The kids will receive notebooks, pencils, erasers and all that good stuff so, hopefully, they can go back to school with all the "stuff" they will need to succeed.
While we are giving "stuff" to the kids and their families, I hope that we are also able to give them something else they will need to succeed: the love of God. My hope is that they will know that God loves them and so do I and that is why I give my time, money and energy to help. There may be many things people feel ill-equipped to do in the church: teach, lead, heal, prophesy. But anybody, and I mean anybody, can take a few hours and a few dollars to demonstrate the love of God.
James, one of the first followers of Jesus, wrote that our faith in God has to motivate us to help people when we know that they are in need (James 2:14-17). Do you know anybody who needs help? Can you help? Are you involved with a church that has ways for you to help people in your community? Can you help?
Helping feels good, for sure, but it goes deeper than that. Much deeper. In an act of selflessness, giving something of yourself just to benefit somebody in need, you are participating in the Divine, the Holy. Try it soon and see. I know I'm glad I did.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
kings today....
you don't see kings much these days. i know there are societies or countries far off where they probably still have kings and queens and such. yes, i know, England has a queen.
but, there was a time in history where kings were all the rage. every country had a royal ruler. democracy and shared authority and free elections are a relatively new thing on the historical political scene.
i have been reading in the Bible about kings. i have also been reading about "masters": people who are in charge of other people. in some sense, these two roles are similar. there is a person who has responsibility for, and to a certain degree command over, another person or people.
the reason i bore you with all this is because i think the instruction and teaching in the Bible for people in these positions could be impactful in our culture today.
we may not have kings, but we do have CEO's and Plant/Store Managers and Principals and Senators and such. these people all have a measure of influence and even control over the lives of the people working for them or living under their jurisdiction.
the Bible calls people like this to live with concern, care and compassion for those "under" them. justice, mercy and protection are the attitudes that a ruler should have toward their people...rather than seeing them as means to an end or cogs in a wheel to get work done.
if there is someone, anyone, that you have any control or influence over by way of your position in society, please treat them the way prescribed by the Bible. i wonder how that would change the picture today if many people were to rule and lead this way?
but, there was a time in history where kings were all the rage. every country had a royal ruler. democracy and shared authority and free elections are a relatively new thing on the historical political scene.
i have been reading in the Bible about kings. i have also been reading about "masters": people who are in charge of other people. in some sense, these two roles are similar. there is a person who has responsibility for, and to a certain degree command over, another person or people.
the reason i bore you with all this is because i think the instruction and teaching in the Bible for people in these positions could be impactful in our culture today.
we may not have kings, but we do have CEO's and Plant/Store Managers and Principals and Senators and such. these people all have a measure of influence and even control over the lives of the people working for them or living under their jurisdiction.
the Bible calls people like this to live with concern, care and compassion for those "under" them. justice, mercy and protection are the attitudes that a ruler should have toward their people...rather than seeing them as means to an end or cogs in a wheel to get work done.
if there is someone, anyone, that you have any control or influence over by way of your position in society, please treat them the way prescribed by the Bible. i wonder how that would change the picture today if many people were to rule and lead this way?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Rich Mullins
Screen Door on a Submarine, circa 1996
It's about as useless as
A screen door on a submarine
Faith without works baby
It just ain't happenin'
One is your left hand, One is your right
It'll take two strong arms, To hold on tight
Some folks cut off their nose
Just to spite their face
I think you need some works to show
For your alleged faith
Well there's a difference you know
B'tween having faith and playing make believe
One will make you grow
The other one just make you sleep
Talk about it, But I really think you oughta
Take a leap off of the ship
Before you claim to walk on water
Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's as useless as a screen door on a submarine
Faith comes from God
And every word that He breathes
He lets you take it to your heart
So you can give it hands and feet
It's gotta be active if it's gonna be alive
You gotta put it into practice, Otherwise....
It's about as useless as a screen door
On a submarine
Faith without works, baby
It just ain't happenin'
One is your right hand, one is your left
It's your light, your guide
Your life and your breath
Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door
On a submarine
It's about as useless as
A screen door on a submarine
Faith without works baby
It just ain't happenin'
One is your left hand, One is your right
It'll take two strong arms, To hold on tight
Some folks cut off their nose
Just to spite their face
I think you need some works to show
For your alleged faith
Well there's a difference you know
B'tween having faith and playing make believe
One will make you grow
The other one just make you sleep
Talk about it, But I really think you oughta
Take a leap off of the ship
Before you claim to walk on water
Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's as useless as a screen door on a submarine
Faith comes from God
And every word that He breathes
He lets you take it to your heart
So you can give it hands and feet
It's gotta be active if it's gonna be alive
You gotta put it into practice, Otherwise....
It's about as useless as a screen door
On a submarine
Faith without works, baby
It just ain't happenin'
One is your right hand, one is your left
It's your light, your guide
Your life and your breath
Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door
On a submarine
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Ahhhh...High School
It just hit me. I guess because the school year just finished up and somewhere there are high school graduates celebrating their new-found freedom and remembering their memories of the last four years. I remember high school. Awkward years, mostly, of trying to figure out who I was and how to avoid being left out, singled out, or punched out.
What hit me is that painful transition I made during the middle of my junior year of high school. I moved in with my dad in a totally different place and totally different school. After Christmas break, I was the new kid at a new school with new people and it was tough.
I felt very much like I had invaded somebody else's territory and everybody there knew what was going on but me. Add that stress and discomfort to an already difficult time of transition and development (i.e. the teenage years) and you have the makings of a painful experience.
The reason my high school experience is particularly relevant to me now in my life is because of the new church we are launching. Our expressed intention is to be a church that is focused on connecting with people who are not a part of the church. For people checking out the church for the first time, or the first time in a long time, I imagine it could feel much like going into a new high school mid-way through your junior year. My prayer is that the bridge will allow someone to feel invited, welcomed, and like they fit right in.
What hit me is that painful transition I made during the middle of my junior year of high school. I moved in with my dad in a totally different place and totally different school. After Christmas break, I was the new kid at a new school with new people and it was tough.
I felt very much like I had invaded somebody else's territory and everybody there knew what was going on but me. Add that stress and discomfort to an already difficult time of transition and development (i.e. the teenage years) and you have the makings of a painful experience.
The reason my high school experience is particularly relevant to me now in my life is because of the new church we are launching. Our expressed intention is to be a church that is focused on connecting with people who are not a part of the church. For people checking out the church for the first time, or the first time in a long time, I imagine it could feel much like going into a new high school mid-way through your junior year. My prayer is that the bridge will allow someone to feel invited, welcomed, and like they fit right in.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Good Friday
This is the day that Christians have historically remembered as the day that Jesus was arrested, tried and convicted, and crucified in Jerusalem.
I can't help but be reminded by the wicked storms raging outside my house right now of that scene at Golgotha when Jesus took his last breath. In the Bible (Matthew, chapter 27), the writer describes the scene this way:
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. (v. 45)
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. (v. 50-51)
When the storms today started raging and the sky got dark, everybody took notice. We immediately turned on the news to see the latest forecast. We even stopped cooking dinner to see what was developing and ended up in the bathroom waiting for the tornado warning to pass. My mom called to check on us. My wife's mom and sister called to check on us. News crews were dispatched to the storm centers to report on what they saw.
The account of the crucifixion of Jesus reads much the same way. When the sky got dark and the earth shook and the rocks split, everybody took notice. Even one of the guards who had ridiculed and beaten Jesus said, "Surely he was the Son of God" (v. 54).
So, seeing today's storm (on Good Friday) reminds me of that guard and the storm he saw on the very first Good Friday. He had not been a believer in Jesus as the Son of God before the storm, but afterward, he declared his belief for sure.
On this Good Friday, will you say with me...Surely Jesus is the Son of God!
I can't help but be reminded by the wicked storms raging outside my house right now of that scene at Golgotha when Jesus took his last breath. In the Bible (Matthew, chapter 27), the writer describes the scene this way:
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. (v. 45)
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. (v. 50-51)
When the storms today started raging and the sky got dark, everybody took notice. We immediately turned on the news to see the latest forecast. We even stopped cooking dinner to see what was developing and ended up in the bathroom waiting for the tornado warning to pass. My mom called to check on us. My wife's mom and sister called to check on us. News crews were dispatched to the storm centers to report on what they saw.
The account of the crucifixion of Jesus reads much the same way. When the sky got dark and the earth shook and the rocks split, everybody took notice. Even one of the guards who had ridiculed and beaten Jesus said, "Surely he was the Son of God" (v. 54).
So, seeing today's storm (on Good Friday) reminds me of that guard and the storm he saw on the very first Good Friday. He had not been a believer in Jesus as the Son of God before the storm, but afterward, he declared his belief for sure.
On this Good Friday, will you say with me...Surely Jesus is the Son of God!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Fat Tuesday
Today is Fat Tuesday because tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season in the Christian calendar called Lent, which ends with Easter. This season is often identified with people giving up things in their daily life as a way to remember and identify with the sacrifice that Jesus made for humanity.
In early celebrations of this season, many people sacrificed food and would fast or eat only sparingly during Lent. This season was also a time of preparation and study for people who had converted to Christianity and wanted to join the Church. For a very long time, Lent was without a doubt the most important season of the year for the Church.
Fat Tuesday became a day of celebration and even indulgence as people prepared for their fasting or sacrificial living during Lent. Eventually, the celebration became a season in itself: Mardi Gras (which means "Fat Tuesday"). It's just hard to get a good party to end.
Lent, however, is not a party. It is a time to remember the depth of the sacrifice God made for you and me through Jesus. It is also a time to remember the reason that such sacrifice had to be made - the reprehensible and regrettable condition of humanity - sin. That is where Ash Wednesday comes in. The Church long ago adopted a tradition to begin Lent by people marking their foreheads with ashes as a symbol of the regrettable condition of sin and the desire to turn away from it - repentance.
Whether you are a Christian or not, get into religious symbolism or not, would you still be willing to think about that regrettable (or even reprehensible?) thing in your life that needs to go away? If so, this season of the year, leading up to Easter and the new life of spring, might be the perfect time for you to remember the sacrifice God made for us all and consider what you are willing to let go of....
To read more about Lent, check out this link: Lent 101
In early celebrations of this season, many people sacrificed food and would fast or eat only sparingly during Lent. This season was also a time of preparation and study for people who had converted to Christianity and wanted to join the Church. For a very long time, Lent was without a doubt the most important season of the year for the Church.
Fat Tuesday became a day of celebration and even indulgence as people prepared for their fasting or sacrificial living during Lent. Eventually, the celebration became a season in itself: Mardi Gras (which means "Fat Tuesday"). It's just hard to get a good party to end.
Lent, however, is not a party. It is a time to remember the depth of the sacrifice God made for you and me through Jesus. It is also a time to remember the reason that such sacrifice had to be made - the reprehensible and regrettable condition of humanity - sin. That is where Ash Wednesday comes in. The Church long ago adopted a tradition to begin Lent by people marking their foreheads with ashes as a symbol of the regrettable condition of sin and the desire to turn away from it - repentance.
Whether you are a Christian or not, get into religious symbolism or not, would you still be willing to think about that regrettable (or even reprehensible?) thing in your life that needs to go away? If so, this season of the year, leading up to Easter and the new life of spring, might be the perfect time for you to remember the sacrifice God made for us all and consider what you are willing to let go of....
To read more about Lent, check out this link: Lent 101
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