The Dream Factory

Be Thou within me, to strengthen me;

Lord,
Be Thou within me, to strengthen me;
Without me, to keep me;
Above me, to protect me;
Beneath me, to uphold me;
Before me, to direct me;
Behind me, to keep me from straying;
Round about me, to defend me.
Blessed be Thou, O Lord, our Father,
for ever and ever.
-Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626)

A bishop in the Church of England, Andrewes, royal chaplain to Queen Elizabeth I, Kings James I, and Charles I, one of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible, published in 1611.

"They laboriously do nothing." - Seneca

It is never easy to do nothing.

It takes great effort.

In the avoidance of work there is backbreaking toil.

It is easier just to decide to get up and do something.

Then in doing something, we shall gain much ... if only rest from the labors of doing nothing.

_________________________________

_________________________________

(Still at camp!)

Self-conquest is the greatest of all victories." -Socrates

The power of self-conquest is in its greatest challenge, subjugating our own desires, passions, wants, and needs to something greater than ourselves.

When we can place things in their proper order, we can conquer any challenge.

When we have overcome self and self interest, we will have positioned ourselves for heroism should the need ever arise.

________________

(I am blogging while away by post dating my posts. I'll be at camp with a group of rowdy children from July 6-10 and on the road July 10-11 to a Toastmaster's training. Have a great week!)

"Those who complain most are most to be complained of." - Matthew Henry

"Those who complain most are most to be complained of." - Matthew Henry

That being the case, perhaps we had best complain less and compliment more.

"Be courteous to all ..." - Washington

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation."

- George Washington

Necessity

Necessity may indeed be the mother of invention, but it has, at times, bee the mother of injustice.

William Pitt observed, " Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."

Pitt spoke as the ally of Wilberforce in their quest to end slavery in England. Against their efforts were all sorts of arguments including those of necessity.

"We have no other choice."

"We must."

"We have to protect ourselves."

"We know it is wrong, but now is not the right time to correct things."

"If we do this now, everything will collapse."

There has never been a convenient time in history for doing the right thing. It has always been against the tide to stand for the rights of others. Liberty has never been practical. Freedom has never been feasible. Truth has seldom seemed profitable. Justice has never been easy. Light has never been appealing to those whose eyes have grown accustomed to the dark.

Our shortcuts can always be justified by expediency. In business, public affairs, and personal relationships, we can make our case for walking over other people and nations if we can establish that it is in pour best interest do do so.

When we do, we ultimately lose.

It is as if we have created a Greek god, named him "Necessarius," and bowed to him without knowing he is no god at all and will keep none of his far reaching promises.

Only what is right and true and just and compassionate will last beyond the moment. All else is as fleeting as our notions of necessity.

(I am blogging while away by post dating my posts. I'll be at camp with a group of rowdy children from July 6-10 and on the road July 10-11 to a Toastmaster's training. Have a great week!)

"The prickly thorn often bears soft roses" - Ovid

What are the prickly thorns in your life that prevent you from appreciating the roses that have come your way?

We can give them power over us or just notice them, work around them, and keep our eyes and noses tuned to the possibilities of fresh blooms.

Listen and enjoy.

_____________

_____________

(I am blogging while away by post dating my posts. I'll be at camp with a group of rowdy children from July 6-10 and on the road July 10-11 to a Toastmaster's training. Have a great week!)

Clever or Wise

Euripides noted that, "cleverness is not wisdom."

It is not enough to know things or to be able to turn a phrase.

There is many a poor man who is clever, witty, and knowledgeable.

Worse yet, there is many a bright man or woman who is morally inept. Some, perish the thought, even use their wits to outwit the poor and oppress the weak.

Wisdom is moral knowledge. It is know what to do, how to do it, when to do it, why to do it, and then, doing it.

Solomon was held in awe because, " because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice."  (I Kings 3:28)

It is wonderful to be smart; it is better to be wise. 

(I am blogging while away by post dating my posts. I'll be at camp with a group of rowdy children from July 6-10 and on the road July 10-11 to a Toastmaster's training. Have a great week!)

My Friend Phil Has a Diet Suggestion

The ever-witty Phil Brewer sent this to me and asked me to post it:

Download P C Brewer - Diet Plan

Hometown Jesus

We have known Jesus in the American church for a long time. Have we known Him well? Why then is it that we cannot recognize Him when He shows up in different garb?

Meditations on Jesus' Hometown: Matthew 13:53-58

Focus: ⁵⁷And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. ⁵⁸And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

We have become the 21st Century hometown of Jesus where we think we know Him and can control Him and He will not comply.

Just being in the presence of Jesus is compelling to the garden variety sinner and offensive to the self righteous. We still drive Him away.

Without raising His voice or asserting His position, the strength of His words and the power of His love cause offense.

No wonder we are offended by Jesus. He won't behave the way we want Him to. He won't sit quietly in a corner and be religious.

He disturbs our thinking, disrupts our comfort, disengages our biases, and distances us from our respectability.

What if our boxed-in, over-defined, socially acceptable Jesus is a our attempt to avoid the real Jesus who disturbs our thinking?

How much more could we be experiencing if we did not take such offense at the one we have grown accustomed to calling, "Lord?"

Matthew said he worked miracles at home, but called them few, implying that there could have been so many more.

Has the American church become the familiar & contemptuous hometown of Jesus where few signs are wrought 4 our lack of faith?

This morning, Leonard Sweet posted a list of requirements Martin Luther King Jr. mandated for his associates. It takes all the mystery out of why God's hand was on this man's life and the movement.

Leonard Sweet: " In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. insisted that every civil-rights worker had to sign the following pledge before they could join the mission:

"The 10 Commandments of Nonviolent Movement" "

1. MEDITATE: daily on the teachings and life of Jesus
2. REMEMBER always that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation----not victory.
3. WALK & TALK in the manner of love, for God is love.
4. PRAY daily to be used by God in order that all might be free 5. SACRIFICE personal wishes in order that all may be free
6. OBSERVE with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy
7. SEEK to perform regular service for others and for the world
8. REFRAIN from the violence of fist, tongue or heart.
9. STRIVE to be in good spiritual and bodily health.

10 FOLLOW the directions of the movement and of the captain on a demonstration.

Jesus keeps showing up in the culture in ways we don't expect Him and we continue to reject Him. Sadly, that rejection usually comes first from His own people.

Our problem is not that we know Him too well; it is that we have known Him so long and only superficially.

What sort of faith in Him might bring again the mighty signs?

F - Faith that takes us FARTHER than we have been before in our capacity for imagination and service.

A - ACCEPTANCE of His authority to do more than amaze us.

I - INTENTIONAL resolve to continue our quest to discover the depths of who He is in intimate relationship.

T - TESTED faith that is constantly putting itself to the test.

H- HONOR, the quality sadly lacking in Jesus' hometown.

How Guy Kawasaki Gets Good Stories to Tweet

I suspect many have wanted to know. So he was asked and he answered:

Question: How do you and your ghosts find so many links?

Answer: We mostly use Alltop to help us quickly find good stories. Principally, we scan Most-Popular.alltop, Science.alltop, Psychology.alltop, SmartBrief.alltop, and Oddities.alltop. I also have three RSS feeds that automatically post into my account via Twitterfeed: Toxel, Truemors, and How Stuff Works.

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2009/07/how-i-tweet-just-the-faqs.html#more#ixzz0KJsw3BLf&D

Now that we know ...

To Be American

"Nothing of importance happened today."

On my calendar I wrote these words of King George which he entered in his journal on July 4, 1776.

What would follow would contradict his impression. There would be a long and bloody war of independence and the emergence of a new federation of sovereign states who would evolve into one nation of states with one Constitution and a ground-leveling Bill of Rights.

That nation would have to fight many wars to secure her independence and would emerge as a leader on the stage of world communities.

Happy birthday, America! The document, whose signing we celebrate today, means something. It was not just a letter of divorce sent to a King overseas who commented on the unimportance of the day. It was the beginning of a unique experiment that introduced radical ideas and revolutionary notions of equality and democracy. So radical were these ideas, that the founders did not completely understand their implications, nor were they willing to put them into practice.

In Randy Spark's "Just Americans," he sings, "On September 11, we became just Americans," - no hyphens, no qualifications, no party, no divisions of any real substance. We were one people united in love for country and for one another. That is the America I love where we celebrate our diversity and unite around enduring principles.

This in no ways diminishes the uniqueness of each person's or family's cultural and historical heritage or struggles. Many have been victims or have suffered because of distortions in the American dream and the bigotry of people who did not apply our values universally. We are collectively about those struggles, those injustices, those groping attempts to find our way as a people. We are about the conflicts and how we have resolved them. We own the skeletons in our closets. We acknowledge our faults. We realize we can do better. We understand that we have not yet arrived at our best.

But the dream and the principles are dynamic. They are defined by what they are and not just how they have been lived out.

Happy Birthday, America. May you always lift your lamp beside the golden door. May you always provide a home for the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Such were my people who came to these shores and found a home and an opportunity hundreds of years ago. May you always value freedom and dignity. May your manifest destiny be the fulfillment of your highest ideals that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights. Happy Birthday America and Americans. May we become all the good that we can be among the community of nations.

Among many renditions is this Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor choral treatment.

The text, The New Colossus, defines who we are becoming, who we have been, and how we have come to this place as much as anything:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning,
And her name, Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome;
Her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor
That twin cities frame.
"Keep, Ancient Lands, your storied pomp!"
Cries she with silent lips.

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breath free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless,
Tempest-tossed to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

  - Emma Lazarus

Happy 4th to all of you! We wear this stuff on our shirt sleeves - right or left, no matter what party or ideology, when it comes to expressing our love of country, Americans are irrationally exuberant (to steal a phrase). And I am right there! Celebrate!!!

Here is another treatment and video:

Happy 4th!

God with Us by Jeff Neuman-Lee

Jeff is an old friend from Fremont days when we pastored in the same neighborhood and worked together with some others to form the Tri City Homeless Coalition (Now  Abode Services). Even before he was a published author, Jeff challenged me theologically and spiritually to think faithfully and live radically for Jesus. This is a summary of his new book.

• Jeff Neuman-Lee: God With Us: The Biblical Message Of Jesus, Life In The Spirit, Not In Religion

Jeff Neuman-Lee Tom Sims (on FaceBook): Here's some about the book.
• Invites readers to follow Jesus as Jesus is presented in the Bible.
• Challenges anyone from atheist or agnostic to “saved” believer to look at “God” and “Jesus” in different ways.
• Cuts through religious language and gets to the way of life suggested in Jesus.
• Finds the central meaning to following Jesus in Jesus’ words: love your enemy, not judge, forgive, not fear, and love.
• Sees the central meaning of Jesus in his life, teaching, death, resurrection and Spirit.
• Offers a better way of understanding the cross than either “Christus Victor” or “Substitutionary Atonement.” That is “God With Us.”
• Defines faith as the only true way to relate to God.
• Defines idolatry and attacks idolatry of language.
• Makes no claims to originality of insight. Yet, presents a progressive, Anabaptist/Pietist theology in an evangelical format.
• Shows how faith in Jesus functions in ever

Obama chooses worship over spectacle

Obama chooses worship over spectacle. It is always difficult for a public figure to slip into a service and participate as one worshiper among many. It is much more so true for a President, especially given the security entourage that must accompany him.

I think this is a good idea. It worked for President Bush. Camp David is already secure. Military people stationed at the camp are used to seeing the President. He can worship and grow in his faith along with his family.

The pastor is Lt. Carey Cash, a Southern Baptist chaplain.

Read the article: Obama chooses worship over spectacle.

Three Questions

Jesus inserts a probe into the deep places of our hearts whenever he asks searching questions. Even the most practical interrogatives cause a pause that is sharp enough to penetrate our motives, thoughts, and fears.

He asks the questions we are ultimately asking ourselves but find difficult to face.

Luke 8 records three of them:

"Where is your faith?" (v 25) - What do you really believe? How profoundly do you believe it? How does what you believe drive you, define you, and shape you? Is your faith transferable between the changing circumstances of your life? Is it immune to revision when it is challenged or stretched by hardship? Just because the boat you are in is riding the storm and death is a possibility, does not mean that any enduring and ultimate truth has changed - only your questions. His remains the same: Where is your faith?

Jesus asked this question of his friends who were suffering through storms outside of themselves.

"What is your name?" (v 30) - Is it "Legion" because you are many and are tormented by discordant and destructive voices within your soul?  Do you know your name - your authentic name? Do you really know who you are - the 'you' you were meant to be, full of wonder, potential, and joyous grace?  Have you come to peace with yourself as one who is beloved of God and called to a life of purpose or are you living among the tombs, flailing and beating yourself without mercy?

Jesus asked this question of a man whose storms were within him, who had not known a moment of peace for years.

"Who touched me?" (v 45) - You cannot remain anonymous to Jesus. He wants you to hear the question and know that He knows that power has gone out of Him to you whenever you reach to touch the hem of His garment. Do you think He does not notice you, that He does not care, that you cannot reach Him? A woman whose body had failed her for a long, long time was desperate enough to hope for healing. Later a group of mourners would reach out for one last tidbit of hope for a little girl who had slipped into the grip of death. To the woman, He would say, "Your faith has made you well." To the little girl, He would say, "Little girl, arise."

Who touched me? That is the question of knowing of His knowledge. It is the question that opens our eyes to the reality that in our loneliest circumstances, we are never truly alone.

Some storms attack our bodies and ours alone and isolate us. Jesus see, hears, feels, and knows.

These are the questions that are posed to us today? In some ways, they are all about the first. If we know where our faith is, we can know who we are and that we have touched Him who has the power to still the storms or see us through.

Most Recent Tweets

1. RT @workshopstogo: "We must always have old memories and young hopes." Arsene Houssaye
2. "Every man is a volume, if you will know how to read him." William Ellery Channing
3. "Noble ancestry makes a poor dish at table." Italian Proverb
4. "There is no kind who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his." Hellen Keller
5. "If wrinkles must be written on our brows, let them not be written on the heart. The spirit should not grow old." -James Garfield
6. "It isd always in season for old men to learn." - Aeschylus
7. "The eternal stars shine out as soon as it is dark enough." - Carlyle
8. RT@Rainer_hilft "Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions & as a result, get better answers" Robbins
9. RT @workshopstogo: RT @ newslettersplus "Go brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them." - Aughey
10. "He started to sing as he tackled the thing that couldn't be done, and he did it." - Edgar Guest
11. "We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done. "- Longfellow
12. Living on Tehran time.n Iran add green ribbon to your Twitter avatar with 1-click - http://helpiranelection.com/5:02 AM Jun 24th
13. I just added a green ribbon in support of the folks who are standing up for their freedom in Iran. Let's see if it took.
14. RT @tweetsayings: Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill
15. RT @ProfessorQB:I believe in God as I believe the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else CS Lewis
16. Bullets flying, students advancing vs. bullets, riot police retreating -- raw footage from Iran - http://bit.ly/W0tw79:39 AM Jun 22nd
17. Just added myself to the http://wefollow.com twitter directory under: #christianlifecoach #pastor #newsletter
18. RT @MarketerMikeE: RT @skystjohn: A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. James Keller http://myloc.me/4Xqi7:47 AM 

Tweets on Dad for Father's Day

Tom Sims Dad taught respect. We don't give it because people earn it, but because of who we are & who God made them to be.

Tom Sims Dad taught be to be honest and to work hard and that customers were always right - no matter how wrong they were.

Tom Sims Dad overcame a lifetime of cultural prejudice to see all people as equal. That takes integrity.

Tom posted “RT @nprscottsimon: Wish my father could be here to know our daughters, but I hear him in their giggles-which is where he'd want to be”

Tom posted “RT @tweetsayings: Don`t worry about the world coming to an end today. It`s already tomorrow in Australia. - Charles Schulz”

Tom Sims Leonard Sweet just posted: "In Hebrew Scriptures, God is addressed as "Father" only 11 times. In New Testament, Jesus himself so addressed God as "Father" 107 times," and also, " Who will be fathers to the fatherless? 40% of children who live in fatherless households haven’t seen their father in at least a year"

The Pain Now is Part of the Happiness Then

"The boy chose safety. The man chooses suffering."

I was thumbing through "Shadowlands," a novel by Leonore Fleischer based on William Nicholson's stage play recounting the romance and tragedy of C.S. Lewis and  Joy Gresham.

The author places Lewis at his desk at the close of the book, reflecting, writing - perhaps writing his journal which would become, "A Grief Observed."

""Why love if losing hurts so much? I have no answers anymore, only the life I've lived. Twice in that life, I've been given a choice, as a boy and as a man. The boy chose safety. The man chooses suffering. The pain now is part of the happiness then. That's the deal.""

"Jack Lewis  put his pen down and smiled, thinking of Joy. He wished he had read her these words, but never mind. Jack had a feeling she had heard them; she was never far from him now."

It is not pleasant to consider choosing suffering, but safety is no option at the cost of love.

____________________________________________________________

See also:

Brian Sibley: Through the Shadowlands: The Love Story of C. S. Lewis and Joy Davidman

Sick of Christians?

The pot is being stirred and there is a lot of spillage. The church is struggling with its identity in a rapidly changing world. Everyone, inside and outside, has an opinion - maybe more than one. Sometimes we are fighting the world. Sometimes we are fighting each other. Sometimes we put our collective feet in our mouths.

Sometimes I get sick of Christians.

Sometimes I get sick of myself.

Many recent conversations have not brought out the best in me.

It is hard to hang out with people who have more answers than questions. This has been building up. Others are making definitions of who is what  and codifying them with really long and specific lists.

Sometimes I find it easier to relate to non-Christians who don't claim to have all the answers than to my brothers who are sure that they do.

"Are you biblical, traditional, emergent, liberal, conservative, seeker-sensitive, or what? Careful. Consult the list of criteria before answering."

"Pick a category. Hurry!"

I take Jesus' words, "Seek and ye shall find" to point toward an ongoing process of seeking and finding and seeking some more and finding some more and never being settled and done.

So I come to most conversations with a mixture of dogmatism and ambiguity, a tentative confidence grounded in solid faith, but flexible from the ground up.

I get frustrated with friends who want to finish every conversation with a hard and fast pronouncement. I want to say, "That tree is still alive and subject to quite a bit of movement as it grows upward."

What I know is that as it grows upward, its roots sink deeper - and that is what accounts for my peace and confidence.

If we put most of our focus on the roots without ignoring what is seen, we can do whatever it is we do with trees with the rest of our time and energy.

But it is the root of things that matters most and I see a lot of attention being given to leaves and bark.

What occurs to me is that Jesus said He was the vine; we were the branches; God handled the pruning; and our task was to abide.

I suppose I need to let Him handle the outgrowths that keep annoying and embarrassing me with their references to imprecatory prayers against anyone with whom they disagree or that they see as a threat to God - who has a pretty good track record of being able to take care of Himself.

(If you need to know what I am talking about, go here.)

And thank God He ignores ridiculous prayers where we presume to know who should live or die.

Maybe He chuckles at our assumptions that we must desperately rescue civilization so that his Kingdom will not die from our neglect. It is not that we are not called to engage, transform, influence, and preserve culture. It is a matter of balance and of seeing the larger Kingdom picture which includes thousands of years of chaotic world history and a big world that stretches far beyond our Western orientation.

It is not just the really obnoxious and grotesque examples of mean-spirited distortions of Christianity, but the more subtle things that are bothering me.

Everyone seems to know where things need to be pruned and I see a potentially lopsided bush forming. Many  Christians are just so sure of themselves and what they have "found" in their brief forays into seeking territory.

"We ought to do this and not that. We should be doing such an so. Everyone should stand up for this and against that and we all need to pull together and stand against sin and this is the sin we should be focusing on and isn't it awful that some people don't see it quite the way we do and don't you know that it is us against them and what we need is courage and courage is doing what I say you ought to be doing and please don't question it. And we have to get back to the Bible and these are the verses on which we should focus and this is how it should be done and don't forget to use the right words and slogans and we are right and everyone else is wrong and on and on and on."

So thank God that as much as it seems one party or another is setting God's agenda, He has not relinquished that prerogative to us. It really does not matter what we decide in our back and forth and circular conversations. God will do what God pleases and will continue to make all the definitions.

And God will prune and feed the vine and lead His servants and correct them when necessary and even use us in the process whenever He can trust us to love the sinner like He does.

Yes. I get sick of Christians sometimes - just people with the same personality quirks they would have if they were not Christians - people just as ornery as I am ( or less so because I have a big dose of it).

We get ticked off and opinionated and harsh and then we crash from time to time and ask a lot of questions and then we come back to center - but all the while, our roots are planted in the strong bedrock of God's grace and truth.

I get ticked off and harsh when I perceive people are ticked off and harsh and I judge judgmental people and I am just as human as the rest.

Jesus said He would not feel like spitting us out unless we went lukewarm. He can steer us when we are moving. He can guide us when we are seeking. He can change us when we stay open to change. He can bend us and mold us, and break the resistance of our hearts and He does.

Does Jesus get sick of Christians? When we just don't get it? When we act the same as the folks He was calling to repentance but with Bible verses to justify our rigidity and graceless living?

Maybe, but He doesn't give up. Surprisingly, He loves us passionately and is infinitely patient with us. He uses our crude attempts at service. He includes us in His purpose whether or not we get it.

I have not given up on the church because Jesus has not given up on the church or on me.

The Vinedresser has not retired.

The church has no corner on the market for dogmatism, rigidity, or critical judgments. Humanity is a common "disease" and a common blessing as well.

If I am ever sick of Christians, it is because they are my family and families get on each others nerves from time to time. I really love Christians and other people as well, but Christians are, with all their peccadilloes, my people and God's people. We are called to be peculiar and even odd. We are thrown together with our personality issues and commanded to "work it out" with God's help and guidance. We have to struggle and grow in our capacity for relationship. We march to a different drum and, in doing so, we don't flaunt it or push our weight around. That is the plan anyway.

Sometimes it works very well.

SMILE

SMILE (repost)

Are you a novice to the habit of smiling. I will suggest a begining exercise that may help. Not only will you feel better, but it pays well too.

S - Stretch your cheeks as far as they can go to the left and the right.

M - Make yourself hold that position.

I - Inhale, but hold your facial position.

L - Lighten up your stance by tensing and relaxing your muscles.

E - Enjoy the giggle that is now turning from a chuckle to a cackle.

Practice this process until it comes naturally. Maintaining the habit will not be nearly as challenging as starting. Others will reinforce it by smiling back and you will feel like a million dollars.

The advantages to smiling are both documented and anecdotal. Yet, they are very real. Below is an example of a compilation of advantages by Stacie Hewish:

Advantages of Smiling - Ecademy Shared via AddThis

From a research perspective, take a look at this paper: The Memory Promoting Effect of Smiling in Face Cognition.

Can it be that smiling makes us smarter too?

Inspired by an Old Classmate Experiencing Strange Weather

So, what is with the weather? I hear about "systems" and other factors that are producing "in-climate" conditions around the country. Is there a connection meteorology and geopolitical economics?

Probably not. It is just a gentle reminder that we control very little in our environments and must be ready for anything.

Susann Fletcher-Smith on Facebook mentioned that it was 57 degrees in New York in June. That is odd and not necessarily welcome, at least not by Susann!

It made me think about change.

Change is constant ... one of the few constants. If we choose to be adaptable from the strong point of unalterable centers, we will stand the test of time.

It never rains in California in June ... yet ... it is wet.
We don't get thunder storms ... violates the norms.
Nevertheless, it is wet.
Nevertheless, the sky roared and exploded with light.
They must not be right ...
They who say never ...
For never is a long forever.

I have lived long enough to know that we can't afford to get used to anything or settled on any hard and fast norms or expectations that how things were is how they will always be.

May your day be filled with unexpected surprises of the wonderful kind and may every challenge be met with grace and confidence.

Give Up or Get Up

It was not my best day ever. I have to be honest. Otherwise, I have nothing of value to say.
Yet, who am I to say anything about a day?

I have experienced, exercised, and exorcised most possible negative emotions. I am so tired and frustrated that I have turned to late night work to energize and encourage me.

It does. The very notion that I can somehow be productive and contribute something lifts my spirits and I think it will lift most people's spirits.

"Bad days" are crossroads. If the day is truly rotten and discouraging, the temptation is to give up. It is a strong temptation, not only to give up, but to do it in some big, demonstrative way that announces to the masses that ... well ... another person has quit.

And then, you expect a monument, a testimonial, or a day of recognition. It is not likely to be that way.

Quitters are a dime a dozen. There is no shortage of people giving up.

At the crossroads we choose: Give up or get up.

We already know how to give up. We need no tutorial on that. What we need is a strategy for getting up when the frustration anchor is deeply embedded in muck of bad luck and the sand of grand plans gone awry. Getting up takes a burst of energy from somewhere else and a big dose of extraordinary courage.

GET

G - Give it another shot. Whatever it is and however disappointing the results may have been, agree to taking one more step toward where you are going and being led. You don't have to agree to anything for a week from now - not today. Just agree to give it another day. Then we can talk again tomorrow.

E - Energize! Squeeze it out. Something is left in you and there is a power greater than you that can supply what is lacking. Stand to your feet and begin. There is one brush left in that bottle of toothpaste. There is one more sip in that glass of water. There is always something left. Spend it on the prize before you!

T - Tell someone that you are not quitting today, that you felt like it and that you were justified in it, and that it would have been the easiest and most practical thing for you - but you just aren't going to do it! You are going to keep moving forward,. When you tell it, you commit to it at a deeper level and you accumulate a team of supporters.

UP

U - Utilize every resource you can find, human, creative, practical, material, and emotional. Getting up from disappointment requires more of everything than starting from the beginning. Be creative. Be resourceful. Be assertive.

P - Pray. Now some of you, I know, don't believe in God or in prayer, but it will not hurt you to do it as an exercise. Your version might be a time of thought and reflection. For believers, it is that and more. As you pray, you will collect people and resources along with ideas and solutions. You will slow down your frantic thinking and sharpen your focus.

There are no guarantees that you will succeed in your venture or that I will in mine. What you will guarantee is that you woke up to another day and that you did not quit before the right time.

GET UP!

Underground Exlosions? How About These?

Information is exploding.

If we can avoid blowing up the planet, what will the planet be like before the end of our lives and that of our children?

The world is changing. Those who would live productively in this world need to at least be aware of these trends and prepared to embrace them.

_____________________________________________



_____________________________________________

How Many (___)s Does it Take to Change a ... What?!!! Change?!!!

If we don't want change, all change is intimidating.

George Carlin said he put some money into one of those change machines and nothing happened.

Sometimes, I'd be happy to find a change machine that actually produced transformation in any number of areas of my life and community.

That is one of the appeals of the Jesus movement through history. Those who embrace it and proclaim it know it to be a message of transformation. The human side of transformation is a word that sounds like a Bible thumper's theme, "repentance." It calls forth memories of muggy nights, loud preaching, stern looks, and harsh threats to all who will not repent.

It really means "change" and the gospel writers paired it in the preaching of Jesus with the good news of God's Kingdom.

Why good news?

The good news is that, because there is a new regime and order of things with the coming of a new king, change is possible. It is mandated because it is no longer futile.

A man asked the Zen Buddhist merchant for change for a dollar and he replied, "All change comes from within."

True. It does. It comes from the indwelling presence of a power greater than ourselves who possesses power and personality and who deeply desires for us to come a be a part of His kingdom of joy.

In my church, we are going to be considering something not so original for the next few weeks - an extreme makeover - spiritual edition. We will start with the CORE of our lives - our spirits,  ignited to life by God's Spirit and radiating out into four dimensions of living: Community, Occupation, Resources, and Emotions (Yes, that spells, CORE).

Another key word is related to the construction of a life that is strong and resilient in the midst of the culture quakes, economic tornadoes, circumstantial floods, and faith explosions of our times. That word is STAND. To STAND, we must Shore up our foundations, Take a Team approach, Act purposefully, Name our resources, and Develop our souls.

That will take five weeks to consider and a lifetime to implement.

I wish you could be with us, but if not, think it over.

Change is possible and we can stand and withstand the onslaughts of overwhelming problems in uncertain times if we will develop from the CORE.

The Basics

Bob Burg is THE man to talk about networking through the development of relationships.

He practices what he preaches.

His integrity, interest in the other person, consistency, and likability engender trust and make people want to do business with him and hear what he has to say.

This is an article worth reading.

Offline, Online; It’s Still About The Basics

Posted using ShareThis

Add This!

I am just wondering how my new AddThis button works!

Captive Christian Tribes, New "Nones," and a New Great Awakening

George Barna and Jim Wallis are introducing, at the same time, some stimulating reading and challenging thinking for the church to consider in these critical missional days. They have created an arena of discussion of what it means to be followers of Jesus in this century.

In Seven Faith Tribes: Who They Are, What They Believe, and Why They Matter, Barna seeks to categorize "religious America" into 7 groups. The church and Christians occupy the first two with a total of 82% of the population. Causal Christian are by far the largest group at 66%. Only 16% of Americans reported that they were "captive" Christians. Skeptics were not far behind with 11% of the polling.

So, while the culture is nominally Christian, the question of real discipleship and radical faith still dangles.

Barna suggests that "America's New Faith Tribes Hold the Key to National Restoration."

Barna is well liked by most Evangelicals. Not necessarily so, Jim Wallis of Sojourners. Kevin Lum recently set the stage for his book, "The Great Awakening," with a review of some recent Pew findings.

The New ‘Nones’ Aren’t Athiest–Just Unaffiliated - Kevin Lum - God’s Politics Blog

This is an interesting compliment to the Barna research. Lum's commentary on the Pew data has seemed true from my experience, from anecdotes, and from intuition for some time.

Once when the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Ghandi he asked him, "Mr. Ghandi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?"

Ghandi replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Lum says, "Young people are attracted to an authentic faith in Jesus, grounded in scripture that leads to social action."

Jim Wallis takes the subject to the next level of interpretation and application in "The Great Awakening."

Wallis has raised some ecclesiastical eyebrows in recent yours, but he is raising some important issues here. Namely, young people are looking to Jesus in a fresh way, directly from the scriptures. They are concluding that the Jesus of casual Christianity bears little resemblance to Jesus of Nazareth who walked among men in the first century and called for radical commitment and a lifestyle that defies norms and cannot be contained within existing formalized structures.

The implications for our politics may be something unexpected where neither party or camp can claim a corner on the loyalties of people of faith. The implications for the church are more profound and compelling.

There could be some head shaking, nay saying, and disheartened moods in rfesponse to these realities, but many will embrace them as opportunities to reconsider what is authentic and what is merely the traditions of men.

How David beats Goliath: When underdogs break the rules

When Vivek decided to coach his daughter's basketball team, he was often baffled by the way Americans played it. He thought it was mindless. Team A would score and then immediately retreat to its own end of the court. Team B would inbound the ball and dribble it back to where Team A was patiently waiting, and the process would perverse itself...

read more | digg story

Swine Flew

If swine flew then it would prove that pigs fly.

If pigs fly, then why oh why, can't I? (Sorry Dorothy)

Be not deceived, swine flu is a serious subject. Death and death plagues are tragic and we could easily be in serious trouble if we are not careful.

We eventually will have to encounter the "big one," just because of our growing resistance to antibiotics and any number of other factors which, to discuss intelligently, would be above my pay grade.

In my life, it has become obvious to me that pigs do fly - good pigs and bad pigs. Impossibilities turn to possibilities and then emerge as probabilities until one day, in the midst of our ongoing denial, they sneak up behind us, tap us on the shoulder and blast in our ear, "I'm here!"

We threw out this topic at a Toastmasters meeting yesterday with some table topic questions:

Is worldwide pandemic a flying pig scenario? If so, how do we respond? If not, how do we respond?

Have you ever seen a pig fly? What previously thought-to-be impossibilities have actually come to pass for you or around you?

What "pigs" in your life would you like to see fly? (in other words, what impossibilities would you like to see become possible)? What can you do to help them become possible?

You have heard the terms "worst case scenario" and "best case scenario." Choose a situation in your business environment that could go either way and describe your responses and the possible outcomes.

My friends did well with the subject and interjected some sobering and some inspiring ideas.

The reminder to me is that much exists outside of my understanding of what is possible. Worst case scenarios must be confronted and managed. More importantly, best case scenarios must be anticipated, imagined, and ushered into existence through faith, perseverance, creativity, and hard work.

If swine flew, then pigs fly.

________________________





________________________

If Some Things Have Ultimate Value

Bear with me as I meditate on the meaning of the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price. I am preaching on this very simple and profound passage tomorrow.  My thoughts have led me down several paths to a place of focus.

If there is ultimate value in the world than that value has implications.

Those implications are found in the changes that come to our lives as a result.

If I believe that something is "ultimate concern" (Paul Tillich's definition of faith and religion), then I must rethink all of my other concerns.

" ... ultimate concern was always my main concern," Tillich said in the interview I am posting. He was misunderstood because he used the language, "God is dead," while referring to traditional views of God. What he believed about God himself was somewhat unclear. Tillich found it necessary to articulate his commitments in unorthodox ways.

The problem of "what's the meaning of my life," was the driving force behind his own seeking and thought. While he came to different conclusions than I would, he raised questions that continue to challenge us to do something about the treasures we find in the field and those pearls of great price for which we sell all in order to gain what we see as most valuable.

What I declare as ultimate concern in my life is the Kingdom of God as embodied in and taught by Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.

You may be on a different path. Perhaps you can still apply this principle of ultimate commitment arising out of ultimate concern. For me, the call is a clear and certain and the One making the call is real and personal.

So, what do I do? What must I do?

If I truly believe, as I do, that I have found the greatest treasure, I cannot honestly walk away from it unscathed and unaltered.

If I rethink everything, then I must rethink with an eye toward reorientation. If my orientation changes, it affects the view of everything else in my view. What was primary becomes peripheral. Some things simplly fade into a dark background.

The reorientation, as implied, grows out of a refocus. The eye on the prize for a person of faith is an eye on the person who is "the Other." This "Other" is Holy/Wholly Other." (See Rudolph Otto - "The Idea of the Holy")The "Other" is different from us and that uniqueness impresses us into reverence. But this "Other" in the gospels is also one of us and, in leaving us, sends yet another to walk alongside us as Spirit and guide.

Tillich says that the most convincing evidence of any faith is the transformation of those who commit to it.

So, I refocus and that means I must reorient. What follows is redirection of the movement of my life, reevaluation of what is important, revisiting all my commitments of time, energy, and money, and restructuring all my beliefs and priorities.

Jesus said, and it is quoted in Matthew 13:44-45, that those who found treasures in the field and pearls of great price were willing to sell all to gain that one thing.

The great question in genie lore is what will you do with the three wishes if you have only three. I was told I was in violation of the genie code (though it was not stated at the outset) when I expressed my intention to first request unlimited wishes.

It seemed valid.

Whenever you have only a few choices you choose the choice that brings more choices. You buy the option machine. It is good business and it is good religion.

He said that the kingdom was like that.

Perhaps he calls the "narrow way"also the way of freedom and unlimited possibilities.

Jesus never proclaimed the Kingdom of God as being bad news. It was always good news. The bad news was all outside of that kingdom. His message was essentially and consistently positive to all but a few.

And those few were those who sought to impose religion from the outside and conform people into the image of God through coercion. Jesus taught transformation through the serendipitous discovery of pearls and treasures of ultimate value, concern, and joy.

He had bad news for the stubborn, for manipulators, and oppressors of people. It was bad news for those who refused to become like children, who saw reality and called it something else. It was bad news for those who, once convinced that He was the One, manufactured reasons not to believe. Doubters were welcome, even the one who said, "I believe; help me with my unbelief."

But change, Jesus knew and proclaimed, would not come through the oppressive structures of institutions.

Even when Paul wrote about conformity, it was a call and desire to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus. Conformity to the world, which is most of what we know in religion and secular society, is to be shunned and contrasted with transformation through the renewing of the mind.

It begins with finding the treasure, the pearl of great price that turns the lights on inside of us and compels us to divest ourselves of everything else.

I had posed the question: What are we willing to lose in order to gain everything?

More examples of this principle seem to surface in the world of success literature that in the annals of the church, though some in the world of success are first and foremost, people of faith.

The tragedy is, if I am not willing to lose donuts to gain health, an impulsive purchase to gain financial stability, or a few hours a week to gain financial freedom, am I willing to lose everything for an invisible kingdom?

If the message of the good news of the Kingdom of God is true, if life change (repentance) is possible, if eternity is what is being offered, and if divine help in making changes to our desires, attitudes, and behaviors is available AND if I am at least somewhat convinced that it is true, how can I ignore that? How can I place it on the back burner? How can I consign it to some insignificant corner of my life?

If it is ultimate concern, it calls for radical attention.

Somewhere along the line, I became convinced of the reality and viability of the Good News (gospel) and if that reality began to transform and refocus my thinking. It has been the dominant theme of my life for decades.

However, I sadly suspect that I have yet to sell all. How about you?

___________________________



___________________________

Everything?

"What am I willing to lose in order to gain all?"

The parables of the treasure in the field and the pearl of unspeakable worth all lead to the question.

Everything must go?

What does that include?

What is best?  What  does your heart desire most? Who are you made to be? What are you made to do? What is worth more than everything else in your life?

What is in the way of you becoming who you really are?

It is one thing to say that I sell it all and divest myself of all my other treasures. That I do in the most generalized possible way. It is a broad stroke, without any threat.

But then I start digging into the piles of specificity and it hurts to part with old ideas, false concepts of who I am, preferences, amusements, possessions, attitudes, and patterns of living. These have been my treasures for a long, long time.

__________________________________



__________________________________

Whether you are a faith walker or a just an honest lover of truth wherever it is found, there is a principle that can aid you in your journey. There is only so much you can carry with you toward your purpose, goal, and ultimate destiny. You have to let some things go in order to gain what you most desire and require.

You have to give up a great deal of good on the quest for the best.

For Jesus followers, this is the kingdom of God. For everyone, it is something and it is right in front of you.

The Kyoto Box Simple Solution

Recently, I have been fascinated by the possibilities of solar cooking.

The Kyoto Box is one of many answers to some really complex problems and it is so, very simple.

Read about it and the $75,000 prize awarded to this creative thinker.

Imagine this, it took the inventor a weekend to create the design for an oven that can improve the quality of life for millions of people for somewhere between $5 and $7.

How Big?

The question that no theologian can answer is that which Anselm ventured to describe:

God is, according to Ansel, “that than which no greater can be conceived.”

David simply said that by gazing upon the stars, he came to the conclusion that God is glorious.

Psalm 19

 ¹The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

 ²Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

 ³There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

 ⁴Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

 ⁵Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

 ⁶His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

 ⁷The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

 ⁸The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

 ⁹The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

 ¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

 ¹¹Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

 ¹²Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

 ¹³Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

 ¹⁴Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

 
How big is big? How vast is the sum of countless unknowns? How incalculable is this universe we call home? How small we are? Thank you, friend Carol, for sharing this and so many wonderful postings on physics, astronomy, and the sciences.

My philosophical and theological friends can get a lot of mileage out of this video - but hopefully not before simply experiencing the awe that it demands.

Sagan asks, "Who are we?" Science alone cannot answer that question. It has other tasks. That is our task.

He makes a foray into our arena with this profound statement, "The size and age of the cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty."

Then the motivator comes to the platform and reminds us that even within our limited perspective, today's problems and concerns will carry little weight given the changes that tomorrow will bring.

_____________________________________



_____________________________________

What is bugging you? How much power does it truly possess? How long will it last? Is it bigger than the cosmos? Is it bigger than God?

You know the answer.

Captain Richard Phillips: Underdogs and Big Dogs

"Greater love hath no man than this."

Captain Richard Philips was willing to  lay down his life for his friends.

The pirates off the coast of Somalia were fewer in number than the crew of the USS Bainbridge, but they had the guns. That made them the big dogs. Philips offered himself as a hostage in exchange for his crew's freedom.

Then, he was really the underdog. It was 4 to 1 and the big dogs sill had all the guns.

Richard valiantly attempte escape and was recaptured.

The smart money would have been on letting him go because by now,  4 to 1 had been trumped by U.S. Navy vs. 4 pirates in a rubber dingy. The bad guys were now the underdogs.

Underdogs don't always win - especially when they have been parading around as big dogs and sticking out their chests as bullies of the high seas.

Noone rejoices in loss of life, but what were those guys thinking? Those ships had guns and they had something farmore dangerous, the Seals. Did they think they were negotiating from a position of strength? What did they suppose would happen if they killed the captain?

Now there are 3 dead pirates, one captain who is free, and one pirate in custody for a long,long time. Perhaps he is praying and pleading to be tried and imprisoned in the United States.

The Navy restained itself as long as it could, but the United States had absolutely no intention of abandoning Phillips or of being intimidated.

Sometimes when the big dogs pick on the underdogs, the really big dogs show up and finish things off. I am the last guy to spout a macho line or to be glad when the bad guys die, but this one really hit me between the eyeballs.

There is  a spiritual lesson here - many, but I don't want to be too obvious or trite - except to say- there is always a bigger dog behind the fence when injustice seems to prevail. Now or later, someone is going to open the gate.

It would behoove pirates and bullies to keepthat in mind.

On the Bainbridge,the crew cheered for their hero, captain, and friend who said that he was no hero - the way that real heroes always do.

Read the story.

Before That There Was Paul Potts

If you are a dreamer, be a doer.

Paul Potts blew them away as well.

There are so many examples of people who have moved beyond wishful thinking into the arena of positive action.

The road to success is risky and traversed only by those who will make themselves vulnerable to criticism and the possibility of failure.

"It took a flick of a coin to change Paul Potts' entire life. Heads he entered Britain's Got Talent, Tails he didn't. The rest as they say is history. The last two years have been an epic journey of incredible hard work and dedication."

________________________________

Paul is an overcomer! This paragraph from his website describes some of his journey:

"Paul’s dream of singing began as a child growing up in Bristol with his parents and three siblings, “At 6 years old I wanted to be a vicar, I thought they had the best job in the world, being able to sing every Sunday to the congregation. I didn’t know about all the other work they did.” Bullied and taunted at school, he joined his local church choir and continued to fulfill his passion for singing as an escape from the playground abuse. Then, aged 16, he bought his first opera record. He fell in love instantly and to this day La Boheme is still his favourite. In 2000, Paul used his savings and winnings from a quiz show to spend three months in Italy, learning Opera and the language and realizing a lifelong dream, to sing in front of his idol, Luciano Pavarotti."

You have big dreams and gifts inside of you. They require action. You must do something.

Do it!

___________________________

See Paul's story.

Paul also pays tribute to YouTube. What a humble and gracious guy!

Susan Boyle

Oh my! This brought real tears to my eyes and I am still tearing. I will watch this video again and again and whenever I am tempted to be discouraged by the derision of the crowds.

Chuck Goetschel posted a link on Facebook this morning and, at first, I almost passed it over. We were taken to the Britain's Got Talent contest to meet a sweet and delightful lady named Susan Boyle. I was blown away!

We are more than we can even imagine. This dear woman's confidence in the person God had given her to be just blessed me down to my socks - as did her inspiring performance. Susan Boyle is my latest hero!

Not only is she singing the song; she is living it!

I Samuel 16:7: "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."

The derisive laughter of the crowds will turn to amazement, wonder, and joy if you will not be deterred by their discouraging words and looks. Keep moving forward in resurrection hope!

________________________________

Embedding is mow disabled, but you can hear her at this link.
__________________________________

Contest judge, Amanda Holden called this a wake up call and said, "You said you wanted to be like Elaine Paige and everyone laughed at you. You have proved them wrong."

May it be a wake up call to all of us.

Read more about Susan:

Talented Susan looks to have the last laugh
Middle-aged ‘hairy angel’ wipes the smile off Britain’s Got Talent judges' faces

Lee Strobel on the Resurrection

Lee Strobel teaches on the historic basis for believing the witnesses to Jesus'

resurrection.

 ___________________________


___________________________

Other videos of Strobel's teachings are on the same YouTube page. For your consideration and your own conclusions.

These songs have been lifting me to God today. May my offering to Him be received as worship.

__________________________________

__________________________________

I am looking forward to tomorrow.

It Is About Transformation

I wonder sometimes if those who do not embrace the God movement as led by Jesus find the word, "transformation" offensive as if it means that we intend to impose some extreme makeover on them against their will. I wonder this because I like the term almost as much as I like the process that it describes.

But I understand what I mean.

Perhaps there are those in our ranks who do intend to impose our values and beliefs, but that is not true of most of the people with whom I hang out and alongside whose ministries I serve.

I think most folks agree, from the secular realm to the sacred that our communities need transformation. In touching the possibility of personal transformation, most embrace the concept that people are most fulfilled when they move from a negative outlook with negative, hurtful behavior to a positive stance.

That is our common ground and we do not compromise our theology by affirming it.

We believe that as churches working together and individually, we have a message and a presence that can help people and communities move toward the transformation that they deeply desire. That is what we mean. It is at least what I mean. There is something about the message of grace, sacrifice, mercy, and resurrection hope that lifts people who have been beaten down by life.

This transformation is not achieved by beating people up with the gospel, force feeding them the Word of God, or disrespecting their beliefs and lifestyles. Sometimes it is achieved incrementally. Sometimes it happens and we do not notice. It often happens as we work together with different sorts of folks in our communities and simply, authentically affirm that we come to the table because God loves people and has given us the capacity to love people and serve them in Jesus' Name - not as a means to an end, but because of we really do care about felt needs as well as spiritual needs of people.

I think most folks can sniff out an ulterior motive a mile away.

I also believe that by simple witness of presence accompanied by respectful witness of words, when they are welcome, that God is able and His message is compelling enough to apply grace to the hearts of people and meet spiritual needs without us being manipulative, dishonest, or overbearing.

If I don't believe that about God, why should I expect anyone else to believe it and respond to Him in faith?

I think we have gone into a defensive mode, desperately fearing that the church will lose ground if we don't address every hint of opposition with a frontal attack. Perhaps we doubt that God really does have a Kingdom that will come and  will that shall be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Perhaps we are so unwilling to suffer the slightest inconvenience much less persecution for the cause of Christ that we labor to create a society where it is safe to be a Christian.

The call of God is never to play it safe.

The word Christian was first coined as a title of derision and freely embraced by believers who were willing to be seen as-counter cultural and to be excluded, maligned, and persecuted.

If we are going to be significant, authentic, and effective as agents of transformation, we will have to penetrate our communities, be present, be visible, be odd and yet make friends and work alongside others who do not share our commitments. We don't have to compromise our moral values, our beliefs about marriage in Christ, or our understanding of the demands of personal holiness before God. But neither do we need to make them the principle focus points of our message to the world because that is not the message we have been given to proclaim as primary.

Jesus did not call us to be mad at sinners all the time.

Until our communities come to notice our love as the predominant mood of our lives, I seriously doubt that they will believe anything true about the love of God or respond to His love.

I think we are coming around to this biblical understanding of our mission, but we still have a ways to go. What we are about is transformation and transformation is not renovation. It is something spiritual and dynamic and if we really believe it is possible, we will relax a bit in our efforts to frantically manipulate our environments into Christian ghettos and realize that God is up to something already and He does not need us pulling strings for Him. All He needs from us is for us to be transparent, faithful, and loving witnesses to His grace and love.

Don't we believe that God is real and active in our world and in our witness? I do and that really speaks to most of my worries about living in a post-modern, post-"Christian" world with distorted world views and questionable morality. I am concerned about broken people caught up in all of that and I believe that is where God's heart is as well.

It is all about transformation and we can be agents of it.

 

Now Is the Time! Recession Is No Excuse for Recess!

Contrary to the human tendency toward flight in times of danger, these are days for entrepreneurs to venture forth into the unknown and strut their creative stuff. The time is right for new ideas, for niche thinking, and for bold initiatives by men and women who will not be ruled by fear or passing circumstance.

The very limitations, restrictions, and scarcity of our times that cause some to retreat will prompt others to think more creatively and move aggressively into the arena of invention and innovation.

In the midst of recession when the tides of prosperity appear to be receding, there sounds no recess bell. Class is still in session. The need for vision and visionaries is profound. Life goes on. There is a sea change of thinking, a correction in our collective greed for consumption, and a reevaluation of our definitions of success. But people still require basic services and great ideas still have landing places among receptive minds.

We cannot retreat from entrepreneurship, Rather, we must embrace it at a new level. Our communities need out-of-the-box thinkers and risk takers. Our nation and world need people who are willing to move forward to build great business, social, and spiritual initiatives on a shoestring.

Recession is no excuse for recess.

Favorite "Grooks" from Piet Hein

Years ago, I acquired two volumes of "Grooks" by Danish scientist, poet, mathematician, inventor, and author, Peit Hein.

Hein died in 1996 and most of his works were out of print. However, they can be read at this site which also posted this information:

"Update: It looks like they are back in print! The Danish publisher Borgen has released "Collected Grooks I"
and "Collected Grooks II". That's something over three hundreed grooks in the two volumes. I haven't seen them
in any north american stores, but you can order them from the publisher at http://www.borgen.dk/search.asp?keyword=Piet+Hein&btSearch=S%F8g. I ordered them both
and was very impressed at the speedy delivery (5 days)."

Here are some of my favorites:

ON PROBLEMS

Our choicest plans
  have fallen through,
our airiest castles
  tumbled over,
because of lines
  we neatly drew
and later neatly
  stumbled over.


EXPERTS

Experts have
their expert fun
ex cathedra
telling one
just how nothing
can be done.


ROAD SENSE

God save us, now they're murdering
  another winding road,
and another lovely countryside
  will take another load
of pantechnicon and car and motorbike.
  They're busy making biger roads,
  and better roads and more,
so that people can discover
  even faster than before
  that everything is everywhere alike.


MISSING LINK

Man's a kind
of Missing Link,
fondly thinking


My all time favorite by Hein is this:

A PSYCHOLOGICAL TIP

Whenever you're called on to make up your mind,
 and you're hampered by not having any,
the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find,
 is simply by spinning a penny.
No -- not so that chance shall decide the affair
 while you're passively standing there moping;
but the moment the penny is up in the air,
 you suddenly know what you're hoping.

he can think.


MORE HASTE --
Inscription for a monument at the crossroads.

Here lies, extinguished in his prime,
a victim of modernity:
but yesterday he hadn't the time --
and now he has eternity.




PROBLEMS

Problems worthy
 of attack
prove their worth
 by hitting back.

Philip Yancey on Prayer

Since my assignment this week is to be aware of my conversation with God and to simply know that God is present and hearing, Yancey's honest remarks struck a chord with me.

______________________







______________________

After 54 years of living and almost that many years of praying, I am still learning more than I ever suspected I did not know.

I still find myself "editing" my prayers. I still tend to be baffled by the "why"s, "how"s, and "what"s of prayer. Like the disciples, I find myself continually praying, "Lord, teach me to pray."

After all these years, one would think I would know but sometimes one can't "get there" by thinking what one would think.

So here is my thought: I will keep praying and, as I pray, I will keep asking the questions. I will not edit out my self-doubt and lack of spiritual sophistication and insight. I am here to meet God and that is what it is.

Urban-Suburban Church Partnerships

It was good to be in a meeting tonight where we were discussing the challenges faced by urban churches among our association of denominational congregations and other fellowships ministering in under-resourced settings with inner city challenges.

The issue of partnerships between urban and suburban congregations could easily slide into a paternalistic quagmire where the smaller churches of the inner city were crying "Come help us survive" and the larger churches on the outskirts of town were responding with, "We'll come aid our little brothers and sisters, poor things."

Now, no one would say that, but that is the way it seems when one group has hat in hand and the other is put-upon to "help."

Partnership is a better model. The assumption then is that God has given each congregation certain gifts and assignments and those churches, in and of themselves are gifts to the communities where they are assigned, to the church at large, and to the cause of the Kingdom of God in transforming communities from the inside out.

What then is the gift of the urban church to the larger church and, specifically, the highly resourced and larger suburban congregations from which it seeks "aid." It is the provision of a laboratory for urban mission experience, instruction, coaching, and mentoring. Pastors, staff, and members in the urban churches must be willing to make an investment into the lives of those people who come to "volunteer" or "intern" among them just as a seminary professor would invest in his or her students.

Both the urban and suburban ministers are on the same team working toward the same ends. Along the way, each has something to give and receive in authentic partnership.

It is time for partnership.

Unknown Caller

David Wainscott put me onto this in response to my last posting.

_________





_________

It says what I cannot say nearly as well. It is not my principle genre, but Iif I am going to listen to rock at all it will be Bono and U2.

Being Still and Knowing

"Be still and know that I am God," is a verse I memorized decades ago. It has been with me since I was a child, inscribed upon my heart and mulled over again and again with ever deepening understanding. However, I suspect that I have not begun to truly internalize the depth of its implications in my life either in the mandate toward stillness or the call to knowing. On this truth I will meditate this Holy Week.

I Believe

May your celebration of resurrection today lift you. "I believe what I believe makes me what I am. I did not make it; not it is making me."

_________________________________

_________________________________

May we be shaped today by resurrection hope!

Motzart's Requiem

This has lifted me this evening as I have made my final preparations for Sunday.





I hope it speaks to your heart.

Opportunity is a Dangerous Thing

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." – Charles Dickens, "A Tale of Two Cities"

The one thing Jesus would never do was go out of His way to prove His credentials. He was not enamored with self-promotion. He understood that His life and death would eventually speak for themselves to those inclined to believe. In Matthew 13:38-50, He is resisting the pressure to make His ministry about impressing people who wanted a flamboyant religious demonstration.

Instead, He informs the people what to look for in His future – three days of death followed by something unexplainable and earth changing.

Then, He turns the focus to how people respond to great opportunity and how the greater the opportunity, the more profound the responsibility to act upon it. He cites the judgment as one example. He appeals to their sense of historical disgust to claim that those who have been labeled the most despicable of the past will have something to say about the generation that neglected the very embodiment of Kingdom hope in their midst.

He calls attention to those who are delivered from demonic possession and oppression who do not exercise their freedom to fill the empty places in their lives once delivered. He lets us know that missed opportunity in that regard can lead to a worse condition than that from which the person has just been released.

We have all relapsed to something and we have all experienced the worsening that accompanies the neglect of fresh new found freedom.

He concludes with an embrace and a snub. He snubs members of His earthly family who feel they can interrupt His work just because of their familial ties. He embraces those who stand with Him in Kingdom purpose and who themselves embrace the immediacy of the Kingdom and all the opportunities it affords.

For me, the message is clear. Opportunity can be very dangerous.

It is dangerous if we are so stubborn in our disbelief that any opportunity exists at all. The opportunity truly is present and we can miss the moment. It may not come again. Some might see these as dark days when sudden miracles are required to confirm our faith. Jesus suggested that the darkness was itself a sign of opportunity. He would be like Jonah in the belly of the fish. Few could or would expect resurrection so they ask for lesser signs – magical demonstrations of no consequence. Perhaps these days are what are necessary for that which God would have emerge from our collective lives. It is dangerous to avoid all danger and, as a result, avoid opportunities that only show themselves in precarious times.

It is very dangerous because it calls for a simple decision and we hate simple decisions. Jesus simply asks us to recognize that one greater than Solomon is among us and follow Him in such a radical manner that there is no question as to who we are and where we stand. That sort of radicalism will not please very many. It will disturb most of those who call themselves Christian (and may well be Christians) as well as all who prefer to insure stability and predictability in our collective life. The call to follow Jesus is about stepping into the unknown and stripping ourselves bare of our cherished preconditions. It is the signing of a blank check with God and running headlong into the adventure of a counter cultural movement of grace.

It is a serious danger because things can get worse. We come to the unknown miracle worker to be delivered of our persistent and pernicious demons and are set free. That is when the opportunity begins because we have not been saved to stagnate in gratitude or relax in the river of redemption. Our deliverance from the maligning powers of destruction is purposeful. We are then to fill our lives with mission, and meaning. We are to drink deeply from the fountain of grace and be transformed through the renewing of our minds as we present our empty bodies to the one who fashioned them with a unique and wonderful purpose in mind. A vacuum will always be filled. There are no vacant lives for long. Evil is as opportunistic and malevolent as God is opportunistic and benevolent. If we don't say "yes" to God in the moment of opportunity, inertia will fill our lives with negative thoughts and choices.

Finally, it is dangerous because there is a special distinction for those who seize the moment to learn from Jesus and follow Him in the adventure of faith. It is the danger of being sidelined and marginalized because we have excluded ourselves from the true inner circle of intimacy with the Master. While it was the religious establishment who sought to sensationalize the movement and manipulate it toward their own ends, It was Jesus' own family that sought to call Him away from His work and define His life in ways that would be more conventional and acceptable for a nice religious young man of His day. They could have joined in, but they chose to distract.

Danger and opposition comes from all sides – friends and foes.

The Kingdom is present because the king is present. These are days of unprecedented opportunity for the church, but I fear a great danger lurking in the shadows. It is the danger of settling for business as usual, by putting on really good shows, for designing occasional wowing experiences for our more sensitive disciples, and by failing to be shaped into the radicals we are meant to be. It is the danger of not embracing the right kind of danger and taking God-inspired risks. It is the danger of not dreaming of a reality outside the belly of the fish. It is the danger of celebrating our liberation and leaving our housed empty and unattended.

But it can also be a wonderful time – the best of times. Dickens had it right about his time and about ours. It is always the day of great opportunity and that can be very dangerous.

Emergencies

What is emerging from this frenzied emergency?

Is it focused action built upon predetermined objectives, rooted in enduring principles? Or is it reactive and mindless flailing after perceived winds of crisis?

Is it urgent? If so, what is the source of the urge? Is it essential? Then of what is it the essence?

Things are not always as locked in as they seem. This is the soil in which I will prayerfully dig at the crest of a new day. Perhaps I will hit bedrock and build my day on that. Perhaps I will still be digging at midnight. If so, there will be hope for a fruitful tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm going for today.

God is with us as we think and that awareness lays the foundation of prayer. It is bringing God into our thoughts, though He is never far off, and thinking in concert and conversation with God. Prayer focuses us and directs us as God grounds us.

With enough prayer, we can know our urges, sort them, trust them, and be guided by them without allowing them to rule us.

With enough prayer, essentials will be discerned more clearly based upon the essence of what and who we are in relationship with Him who is eternal in nature and purpose.

With enough prayer, something enduring and purposeful will emerge from each emergency in profound contrast to the knee jerk reactive thinking of our precarious times.

With enough prayer, we will waste less time and accomplish more than we thought we could.

So, while there are no guarantees of immediate results, I am going to dig a bit in prayer, assured that the emergency is just part of the process of something being born through me and may not be what it seems on the surface.

DIG:

D = Dig for DEFINITION. If we can't name it, we can't claim it. If we can't wrap our minds around it, we need to keep seeking. Definitions must be held loosely in our hands and minds, but even a tentative definition of our issues can focus our attention on positive outcomes. It can also help us sort through the fluff that tends to dominate and waste less time, energy, and resources on lesser goals.

I = Dig for INSIGHT. Just as there may be far more dark matter in the universe than known and observable matter, there is far more that we are yet to know than we now know and far more that we will never know in this life than is possible to grasp. However, a glimmer of insight into ourselves, our times, other people, and the meaning of our circumstances through the knowledge of the Holy Other can catapult us to far better decisions today than the ones we made yesterday.

G = Dig for GRATITUDE. When prompted by crisis to act and act now, focus often diverts to self-interest and survival. We might be very successful at survival while utterly failing at the purpose of our survival. We have lived another day without really living at all. We have added nothing to our world. Real accomplishment is rooted in gratitude for what has been given. Gratitude is the human response to divine grace. It receives, gives, and gives thanks. It loosens our belts without letting our slacks fall to our socks. It relaxes us while it energizes us. The attitude of gratitude seasons our legitimate and holy discontent with enough flavor to make our work palatable and productive. If I am having difficulty being grateful at the beginning of this day, I just need to dig a little deeper.

So that is what I. have been given this day to direct my day.