Black Friday

I have been trying to get the dog out for a walk early every morning during the week. This means that I leave the house around 445. On both Thanksgiving day and Black Friday, I made it out the door right around that time.

Thanksgiving Day was quiet. Not a lot of traffic out. A stark contrast from most days when delivery vans are making early morning deliveries and the first shift crew is showing up at the dry cleaning plant over in the industrial area down the road.

On Friday there was a steady stream of traffic heading south on the main drag a block from the house. At 504 AM (yes, I checked the time) Nikki (our aging beagledor) and I got near the twenty four hour Walmart that we are blessed to have a half mile from the house.

The parking lot was full. Cars and pick up trucks were circling the lot looking for parking spots. Almost like sharks on a feeding frenzy seeking their prey. The was the most full that I have ever seen the parking lot.

Stark contrast with the day before when the lot was almost empty at that time.

And a stark contrast from the day before when we give thanks for all the things that our Creator has blessed us with.

I have to be honest. I have gone out to get the early deals on Black Friday exactly once. And I may again.

But as I was walking Nikki in the clear, cold, early morning air with the stars shinging, I came to realize that there is little that I need. I have a lot of wants but few things that I need (a 12 gauge short barreled shotgun (long story for another post) and a cell phone that receives email are the only things that come to mind right now).

Please note that it is OK with me if you were one of the people lining up to get the bargains. That is your decision. And in some cases it is a great way to stretch the holiday dollar for gifts.

My son and I did hit four stores later in the morning, including that same Walmart, when some semblance of order (and parking spots) had returned. And he got some great deals on some things he wanted.

But I sure enjoyed my early morning walk...

Thanksgiving

I was a bit irritated. Twas the second time in a row that the pest control guy showed up right as I was ready to leave work. Doesn't take him too long but I have to hang around and sign the paperwork.

And I was ready to call it a day.

I remembered that I have to deal with the person in front of me. Or I should say I get the privilege of dealing with the person in front of me.

Didn't he realize that he was interfering with my plans? Obviously not. So I had that little internal talk with myself that he was just doing his job. And rather than express my displeasure at a few minutes delay I resolved to be pleasant (I know, some of you are thinking that is pretty unusual).

By the way, in case you are wondering, the warehouse has to be sprayed monthly to keep the bugs out. And we do clean it up every once in a while. Lots of nooks and crannys for crawly things to hide.

When he got to my office, before I could even say "Hi", he asked me if I was looking forward to Thanksgiving. I told him that I was and asked him if he was staying around or traveling and if he had family coming in.

And out it came: his wife had passed away in January. And he was having his in-laws over for Thanksgiving dinner because he figured that he could handle that part of the holidays. He was really looking forward to the occasion.

And then he said with enthusiasm and a huge grin: "I just love Thanksgiving!"

And I was ashamed of myself for being irritated just a few minutes before...

Evanglizing the Lutheran Faith

Just read an online Associated Press article about a group called Lutheran Coalition of Renewal (CORE). This group is exploring the possibility of forming a new Lutheran organization after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted this past August to lift a ban that had prohibited sexually active gay and lesbian pastors from serving as clergy.

This is not about that decision.

This is about one line in the report that bugged me. One of the organizers (Ryan Schwarz of Washington, DC) said that "While this is of course a wrenching decision, there is also a sense of hope in refocusing on our true mission, which is evangelizing the Lutheran faith."

I don't think there is a "Lutheran faith."

A disclaimer: I am a life long Lutheran. I was raised a member of the American Lutheran Church one of the synods that merged with others to form the ELCA in the 1980s. I now belong to a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregation. This is not to get into a discussion of Lutheran theology and doctrine.

But over the past six months I have visited a lot of different churches from a lot of different denominations. And none of them have the lock on salvation.

Period.

What I mean is this: I do not achieve salvation because I am a member of a particular synod, church, denomination or faith. I achieve salvation and eternal life because Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and because I believe that he did.

Period.

And that salvation is between me and Christ. A church or a church body can not get in the middle of that.

Denominations have a lot to do with our comfort. We are more comfortable in this church with that style of music. Or our friends go to that church. Or I like the youth leader. Or the pastor really speaks to me. And hopefully, by belonging to a local church, I am built up to go out and tell others about Jesus and what he did on the cross.

And I should not care which church or denomination they end up going to as long as it is a church that teaches that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins.

But there are many churches and denominations that are teaching other stuff. And I have to avoid those. These are Christian in name only.

I am to evangelize only one "faith" And it is not the Lutheran faith or the Catholic faith, or the Methodist faith or any other faith except this one: the faith that Jesus Christ is my Savior, the Christian faith.

For I am convinced that my brothers and sisters in Christ are spread across denominations and synods and churches and the world.

Period.

Moldy Prayer

Looked at a couple of houses recently. Older houses that have some issues. Or a lot of issues.

A couple have had mold. Some people just try and paint over the mold. After a few months (weeks?) the mold starts to show through. If you really want to get rid of the mold you have to rip out the wallboard and solve the problem at the source. If you do it right you (or the person you sell the house to) won't have to deal with it again.

Kind of like prayer. All too often my prayer is just a surface prayer. Just a list of please do this and please do that and please get it done before breakfast.

Don't get me wrong. There are times when a quick prayer is all that I can pull off. Like when I am reffing a soccer match.

But if I really want to be an effective prayer, I have to get in and do the heavy lifting, the work. I have to grapple with the issue at hand and what God is telling me to do. I have to be willing to put my sweat and blood and tears into prayer.

And that means tearing off my walls before God. And letting Him in to clean out the moldy corners of my life that I don't really want to deal with.

And it means that I can't just gloss over the issues at hand. I have to put time in and work through them.

Prayer is work. And too often I approach it as play...

Hope

I don't watch much network TV anymore. I watch a somewhat eclectic mix of shows mostly on cable.

These tend to be shows like Eureka!, Ninja Warrior, Warehouse 13, Unbeatable Banzuki, X Play and the Dog Whisperer. In addition to the soccer and other sports shows.

But lately, I've started watching a network show on ABC: Flash Forward.

Interesting premise: The entire population blacks out for a couple of minutes and experiences what is going to happen six months in the future. Some see good stuff, some see bad stuff, some see mundane stuff, some see impossible things and some see nothing.

As the show goes on people develop a certain fatalism about the flash forward. Common thought is that you can't change what you saw. There is also the idea that those who saw nothing die before the six months are up.

Hopelessness that they can influence their future is creeping into all the characters.

Except one. He decides that he can not live with what he sees in his flash forward. So he takes a drastic step to make sure that it doesn't happen. He takes a swan dive off the top of a building into concrete.

And the game changes.

Suddenly.

Drastically.

Hope is back. The future is not set in stone. It can be changed. What people saw in the flash forward is not what is going to happen. And it really starts to throw people for a loop.

The guy who committed suicide gave back hope.

Got me thinking: Am I a hope giver or a hope drainer?

Do I drain hope from others through my words or actions? Or do I encourage others with my words or actions? Is my hope based on others and their actions toward me or is my hope in Christ? My choices matter.

Always.

I am not certain about where the show is going. And I am not so set that I have to see every episode.

But now, I am interested in how it turns out...

Paranoid Prudent Prepared

I walked to and from work today.
Actually, I did it twice since I walked home for lunch also.

I saw a couple of interesting things: a dead skunk that crawled up on the sidewalk after getting hit by a car. A game trail running from a culvert back into the woodline behind the local grocery store.

But the reason I walked to work was that the district was hosting a swine flu (H1N1) vaccination site with about 2,700 doses. I didn't want to fight the parking situation. Of course I couldn't jaywalk in my usual spot since the police were parked there to control traffic. Had to use the crosswalk and wait for the light.

The School District did a good job of handling a lot of traffic and was ready for the parents bringing in their kids to get vaccinated.

But as I saw the lines of people forming at 6 AM for a 9 AM start, I was struck by what would bring people out with their kids that early in the morning for a nasal shot.

Disclaimer: I do not plan to get a flu shot. Every time I got one in the past I would get sick about a week later. So I don't get them anymore. And I don't get the flu much anymore either. But if you want to get one that is up to you.

Anyway this isn't about flu shots, its about paranoia and being prudent and being prepared. You see we can go too far in any of these.

As I thought of the hundreds of people lining up, I wondered about paranoia and how it affects us. We can go to great lengths to try and protect ourselves and loved ones. But the Bible tells us that we are not to "worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:24)

But we are also called to be good stewards of all that is entrusted to us. And that means to me that we must be prudent in how we use the resources that we hold. And we should also be prepared for what may happen. Such as a tornado here in Kansas. Or a blizzard in Minnesota. Or a hurricane in Florida.

Not paranoid over what may never happen. Such as a hurricane in Kansas or a blizzard in Florida. And I want to be clear that I am not saying that people who get flu shots are paranoid.

Paranoia is fear. And fear and worry sucks the joy from our lives so that we miss the beauty of what is going on around us.

Such as a walk to and from work on a gorgeous Fall day.

Small Circles

We tend to run in small circles.

I don't mean that we go out and physically run in small circles. That is boring. But when you think about it our sphere of contact ends up being pretty small.

It was kind of driven home when I was looking at a website recently that has had some impact both on us and for people around the world. The author has written some very popular books. They recently published some statistics on the readership of the website.

They average around 40,000 unique viewers a day. From around the world. So that is out of billions of people. In the grand scheme of things it is a small part of the population.

We may have lots of contact with people in the course of performing our jobs, or at church or at school. But ultimately we have a pretty small circle that we are involved in.

And that is OK.

You see I have to deal with whoever is in front of me right now. That is my responsibility. Not to change the world.

To develop relationships with those around me.

And if I can have impact with the small circle that I run in, I can be content with that...

Mercy Rule

Its playoff time! Win or go home in Kansas high school soccer.

Last night I reffed my last high school game of the season. Wasn't much of a game. An 0-13 team against a 16-0 team that is number one in the state and ranked three in the nation. A result of having a one seed face a twelve seed in the playoffs.

It wasn't expected to be much of a game. But for the first twenty minutes I was surprised as the 16-0 team seemed to have difficulty finding traction on the sloppy surface and committed weird fouls and unusual offsides and inexplicably knocked the ball out of play on several occasions.

But ultimately, they got their game going and ran up a 10-0 score right before the end of the half.

And in high school soccer, the meant that the mercy rule was invoked and the game was over.

The mercy rule is this: Any time you are up ten or more goals on an opponent and you have played at least a half of the game the game is over.

It is a good thing. Prevents the score from being run up too high and players injuring other players out of frustration and anger. I know some people will say that it is a sign of the times that we don't play it out to the end.

I disagree.

But that is a rabbit trail to follow at another time.

But anyway, it got me thinking: Do I need a mercy rule in my life?

Are there times when I am so consumed with winning, with being right, with getting the last word in, that I forget about the other person and what it does to them?

Are there times when I plow ahead regardless of the situation bound and determined to get to the "finish" without regard to the cost to those around me?

Are there times when I forget mercy and compassion and let my competitive nature take over?

And unfortunately, for me the answer to those questions is all too often: Yes.

And that is not good.

Funny thing. After the game was over you would be hard pressed to tell which team won and which team lost and get the answer right.

The losing team chased down their coach and sprayed him with water and gathered at midfield as a team and cheered and celebrated. Maybe they were just glad that their season is done and they don't have to practice anymore. Don't know the reason why but their joy was there for all to see.

The winning team gathered up its gear and left after meeting with the coach. Not a lot of joy expressed. After all they were supposed to win this way.

And me? I was glad the game was over and I could go and get warm.

And as I wrote this I had the thoughts creep in that I had written about this situation before.

Guess I better learn the lessons this time...

Thanks

Today a refereed a soccer match.

It was a Under 15 girls match of the first division. The teams were very evenly matched.

The game was very even until late in the game and fairly physical. I thought I did a pretty good job of managing the game and letting the players on the field decide the outcome.

There were the typical comments from parents and coaches about what a horrible referee I was. I don't hear that every game but I did hear a it a couple of times. What is especially grating is when I am working hard to get into position and see something five yards away and a coach (or parent) forty yards away complains about the call.

Anyway, after the game, had the usual player and coach hand shakes and the coaches said "Thanks."

I debriefed with my assistant referees and we were pretty happy with how we worked the game.

And I got ready to run lines on the next game.

And then something unusual happened. A parent came up to me. That is usually a bad sign. It doesn't happen often. They usually want to complain or say that I took the game away from the players.

This guy came up and shook my hand and said: "thanks, you called a great game and really kept things under control."

I was kind of struck dumb at that one. This gentleman recognized what a difficult task it is and how hard I was working. And he appreciated what I (and the rest of the crew) had done.

I don't know what team he was rooting for. And it wouldn't change anything if I did.

Reminds me that I need to be more appreciative of the work that others do.

And tell them that I appreciate the work that they do a lot more often...

The 900

Fall is a pretty busy time for me.

Not only is it a return of school and all the headaches that it entails, but it is the start of soccer.

I currently referee high school, youth club soccer and adult league games. There are a lot of referees who work a lot more games than I do. I don't work every night or day of the week.

Part of that is that I am not as young as I used to be. A mans got to know his limitations.

Last week I worked a game between two Christian high schools. I've done both schools several times over the past few years and a lot of the kids were familiar. It was really evenly matched with a back and forth game.

It ended up tied 3-3 at the end of regulation so we went to overtime. At the end of overtime it was still tied so we went to: "shots from the mark" or penalty kicks. The home team ended up winning 4-3.

Really an exciting game. The guys were well behaved (for the most part). The spectators were pretty calm (for the most part) and the coaches didn't yell too much (for the most part). The weather was a rare beautiful fall day. Not too hot and not too cold.

But for me it was also memorable since it was my 900th game refereed. I have kept track of my games ever since I started (mainly to make sure that I got paid).

I know there are plenty of guys who have done more, but that is OK. It is still a milestone that I feel pretty good about.

On to a thousand...

An Interesting Anniversary

So yesterday, Tuesday 1 September, we finished going through Brother Yun's book: Living Water.

It was a good study. Very thought provoking. And very challenging.

And very long. It took almost eight months to finish at about a chapter a week.

And we finished on 1 September which was the anniversary of Marie Monson setting foot in China in 1901.

Marie was a Lutheran missionary to China who often challenged the leaders of the Chinese church on their faith. She challenged them to repent and have more than head knowledge. They were to have heart knowledge of the Holy Spirit. And they were personally responsible before God for their own inner spiritual life.

Marie showed up in China one year after the Boxer Rebellion where over 150 missionaries and thousands of Chinese converts were killed. She stepped out boldly.

In faith.

When she arrived in China, the church was weak and there were few Christians. Today, millions of Chinese Christians hold her in high regard for they consider themselves her spiritual decedents.

And today we are challenged to step out boldly.

In faith.

Not in comfort.

In faith.

Not in security.

In faith.

It may not be to go to a foreign country to live for 31 years. It might be to just go next door and start building a relationship with our neighbors.

It might be to stand up in our congregation for what we know is right.

It might be to put our agenda on hold to help some stranger in need.

It might be to not give in to pressure at work to "fudge" the numbers a little and to take the consequences.

It might mean having to leave the church that you have been comfortably attending for years to go where you see God working and join them there.

It is to not live in fear of what others may think about us. But to live secure in the knowledge that we are doing what God wants us to do and we are where he wants us to be.

To live in faith and step out boldly is to live the Great Adventure, the only adventure that truly matters for time and for eternity.

And that is scary indeed. For we look about us and see what we have and then we want to hold on to it.

And the unknown can be pretty fear inducing. But if we believe that Christ died on the cross for our sins, we know how the story ends.

And let me never forget that...

Three Gallons

So this morning I headed off to the local soccer field to ref a couple of games.

Didn't go too bad. Worked fairly hard and no one got hurt.

And now for something completely different...

Now imagine three gallons of milk. Weighs about twenty one pounds. pretty heavy and bulky.

After I finished my games I headed up to the blood center. I had an appointment to donate blood. Took a little while since there were a lot of people there.

Turns out this was my 24th donation. Or three gallons. I got my pin. don't know when I will wear it since i don't wear too many suits.
There are plenty of people around that have donated much, much more than that.

But it is kind of mind boggling to think of having donated three gallons of blood. And that could have saved up to 72 peoples lives. It is really an honor to be able to donate.

Just another eight donations and a year and twelve weeks and it will be four gallons...

Joy Vampires

Great start to the day!

Up at 440 and headed downstairs with a cup of coffee.
Did my Bible reading: 1 Kings 18, Job 3 and Matthew 17.
Lot of time in prayer.

Fried egg sandwich for breakfast.

Light rain and into work.

Feeling good.

And then they struck. The Joy Vampires. One at time they can be relatively easily handled but when they gang up and all hit at once they are hard to take.

It started with the voice mail and a stupid request from someone who should know better. And then I turned on my e-mail and read a sarcastic e-mail from someone who seemed to think that I should be able to read her mind. I may be psychotic but I am definitely not psychic.

And just like that the joy was sucked out of me. And I was angry and ready to ...

I realized the Joy Vampires had struck and I had let them get the better of me. So I put things in perspective. These requests were important to the people making them even if they seemed idiotic to me. So I handled the requests and moved on to getting the work day organized.

And my joy returned.

And when other Joy Vampires stalked me throughout the day, I was able to fend them off.

You see, the people were not the Joy Vampires (although some people are). The requests were not the Joy Vampires. It was my response to the situation that caused my joy to flee.

And that is all my fault...

Pile O'Problems

Today I dealt with my Pile O'Problems at work.

The Pile O'Problems is where the guys put the problems when we get really busy. Some of these get resolved as people call in and we can figure out what they are looking for. Others just sit and kind of compost until I can deal with them.

Today was the day to deal with them. And I was able to get rid of the pile in about two hours. Surprised that it went so well. One of the guys did a lot of the grunt work and that really made it go quicker.

The psychic benefit was great. Nice to have the pile gone. And it will cut down on the amount of irate calls I get in the next couple of months.

I probably could have dealt with the Pile sooner. I could have found some time to deal with these problems and enjoyed the psychic benefit a lot earlier.

And the work problems are still around, just not the physical ones that stare at me from the Pile O'Problems. About ten minutes after I eliminated the Pile, one of my drivers called to say that he had torn open the box of one of my trucks wide open by running into a low hanging tree branch during a rain storm.

So the enjoyment didn't last long.

But I am reminded that I often have a Pile O'Problems in my personal life. They may come from others or they may be my own fault. I need to tackle them as soon as I can and not let them compost. They will just eat away at me until they are dealt with.

I can't deal with most of them alone though. I need help from above.

Time to go deal with a couple of things...

Silence

Today was a day of quiet.

It actually started last night when we turned on the air conditioner and closed the windows. It was really quiet and I slept hard and well.

And when I went to work today I kept the radio off. All day. No sports radio, no Christian radio, no music from the computer. Just quiet.

And it was nice. I really enjoyed it.

All too often my days get filled with noise and things are missed. Especially if God is trying to talk to me.

I need more days like this.

I'll have to try and remember that...

Four Days

Been an interesting four days.

Besides refereeing three soccer games and working on the foundation to the greenhouse and mowing the lawn and taking nap, we've had numerous talks and discussions with a variety of people on a wide range of subjects.

We've met with two different pastors from two different denominations. Both churches are places where we see God working. We've had brunch with some old friends who are frustrated with the direction of the music at their church. And we've spoken with some people who are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America which just voted to allow gays and lesbians to be clergy members.

It is amazing because in some way, shape or form God is at work in all these places. One pastor told us that their building is big enough and he sees the church going to multi-venue worship. They need to go out into the community to reach out to others and not bring people to their fancy building. The other pastor laid out their plan for growth but it is all in God's hands and they won't grow until God tells them to. And there are really neat things happening in the church. Lives being changed. For eternity.

The conversation with our old friends was equally enlightening. The music in the church seems to be that anything written after Martin Luther wrote "Amazing Grace" is bad. The pastors seem to believe that if they keep doing what they've been doing they can't get fired. How sad! Where is the innovation, the excitement of trying something different, of failing spectacularly? I can't find anything about church being safe. We worship the creator of the universe who is so big we can't wrap our puny little minds around it. That is exciting and scary.

And then there is the ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America a denomination to which we used to belong. We left over 15 years ago. At their annual convention in Minneapolis over the weekend they voted to allow gays and lesbians into church leadership positions. In the name of reaching out and being welcoming, they put the teachings of the Bible up to a vote. Majority rule.

And when we vote on the Bible, the Bible will always lose because we tend to vote in our own self interest. How sad.

One estimate was upwards of a third of the members will leave over this and go elsewhere to worship. Or just quit worshipping altogether.

Such a contrast: the pastors talking of reaching out and of equipping their congregations and sending them out to their neighbors and reaching the lost, the sick, the widows and orphans, the AIDS sufferers, the hungry and the homosexuals. And the pastors who want it safe and secure and comfortable and conservative. And the denomination that is prepared to tear itself apart instead of trying to come together to work out a solution that fits the Bible.

lots of time spent in prayer this weekend. And lots more to come.

And by the way, I do know that John Newton wrote Amazing Grace...

Disappointment?

So the stove hasn't been working right lately. Actually it is the oven.

It's about 20 years old and came with the house. We couldn't get the temperature up at all. Loralie's cookies and muffins just weren't getting done. Loralie thought that the burner was out.

But everyone told us from the symptoms that it had to be the thermostat. The parts place told us that it would be a special order and be over $250 plus to replace. the appliance company guy said that it would cost $475. And they were pretty sure that it was the thermostat.

And the books I have said that it was not real easy to replace on my own.

On Sunday we stopped by Sears and found a really nice gas oven for $799. Convection, warming tray, five burners everything we wanted. And I could do the gas hook up since the gas line runs right beneath the stove location.

I really like gas stoves and was warming up to the idea as was Loralie. We have the emergency fund for things like this.

But Loralie still wasn't sure it was the thermostat. So she got out the book and I dug out the multimeter and we checked and it looked like the lower burner wasn't working. So she took it down to the parts store and they checked it and it was bad.

Total cost to replace: $30.

So now we still don't have a gas stove. Which I want but I sure don't need since the electric stove works just fine now. But I do have an extra $769. Which is really nice.

And the money will be ready for when the stove does go for good...

That Smell

This Monday Loralie called me about mid morning. She said that our dog had cornered a skunk under the back deck. The dog got out but not before the skunk sprayed a bit. Missed the dog. Hit the deck. Hit the foundation of the house.

So began a process of pulling up decks boards and putting a light under the deck for 24 hours a day. I did see the beady little eyes reflecting back at me once but there has been no sign of it now for several days. So time to button everything back up and get things back to normal.

As is normal in situations like this the skunk came at a bad time. It was an hour before Loralie was having people over for the day. She ran out for more candles and air freshener. And it was the start of my busiest and roughest week of the year (week before school starts). But her friends were good about it and I managed to survive the week(barely).

I did learn from one of the guys who works for me that a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda mixed with a little liquid soap cuts the skunk smell when his dog gets sprayed. And his dog gets sprayed all the time (I think I would get a new, smarter dog). Anyway, I tried spraying that (minus the liquid soap) under the deck. And it really cut the smell. Details of the specific solution for those interested can be found on the Internet.

But every once in a while I will still get a whiff of that distinctive odor. And I have been struck by how much that is like life.

You see I have these faults and issues. And I am sure that you have your own set so don't get too smug on me now. But as I work to clean up those faults and issues sometimes I am just covering up the smell with candles and air spray. And the odor keeps coming back.

But if I work to the root of the problem (which is almost always me) and with outside help, those issues and faults can be washed away. Sometimes that faint whiff comes back to remind me of where I have been and where I don't want to go again.

And sometimes I just flat fall down in the stink and have to get cleaned up all over again...

Foundation

Yesterday we went to church and heard an excellent sermon about the two builders. One built the house on the rock and was able to stand the storms that came while the other built his house on an unstable foundation and lost it when the storms came.

After church we worked outside most of the day. Loralie was hauling rocks and pulling weeds while I started to work on the green house.

Yes a green house. We purchased a small kit green house that will lean up against the south side of the house. This is a small project and we don't need a permit it qualifies as a shed according to the city and since it is attached to the house we don't need home association approval. Loop hole to take advantage of.

We also got a base kit to help keep the green house off the ground. I had several options to put the base on. One was pour a concrete pad, another was to use bricks or pavers and another was to put in concrete corner posts.

But I want the thing to stand up to the wind that we get here in Kansas. So most of my day was spent doing calculations, digging footers and framing in the concrete foundation. And running to the local orange box store for concrete and lumber.

I'm a slow learner sometimes. It wasn't until I was talking with my neighbor about the project and I said: "I decided to go ahead and put in a footer so the green house won't shift" that I realized this was exactly what the sermon in the morning was about.

And I also realized that all too often I take shortcuts in building my foundation, shortcuts that weaken it and weaken my walk with God. I have to do it right so that when the storms come, I won't be blown off course.

Now I have to hope that the rain holds off tomorrow so that I can pour the foundation...

The Week Past

Been an interesting week.

Loralie attended the National Worship Leaders Conference over at Church of the Resurrection. I was able to watch several of the speakers on live streaming over the web. Very good. I saw and heard David Nasser for the first time. What a powerful and entertaining speaker! He is an Iranian Christian who used to be a Muslim.

Went to lunch on Thursday with Loralie and bought David Nasser's book. Really good stuff. Lots to chew on.

Loralie saw a bunch of good worship leaders and heard a whole bunch of powerful workshop leaders. Good stuff.

And today we walked the two miles to church and heard a video by Andy Stanley about how God is enough. Another powerful message. and then we walked the two miles home.

Nice to have so much preaching and solid music. Really encouraging all the way around. It is weeks like this where the encouragement comes in loads that I need sometimes when things are tough.

Two Churches

We went to church on Saturday night. We had never been to this church before. It was the stereotypical Missouri synod Lutheran church service. Lots of people sitting in back. We sat toward the front.

Sang every verse of every hymn. Except for the last one since we were over time and then it was just the first and last verses so that we could get out of there. The sermon was OK. But we left with the feeling of being "unfilled".

Sunday morning I got up early and went for a run. 'Twas hot and humid. As I ran I prayed. I knew that I should go to church on Sunday so I decided to go to the nearby nondenominational church that we have visited several times. I showered and cleaned up ate breakfast and headed off to the early service.

Got there just in time for the praise band. And they played a couple of old standby hymns. The violin was a nice accompaniment. Lots of joy. And a great sermon on temptation that compared the lives of Joseph (Old Testament one) with the life of Jesus. Compared the temptation that Joseph faced from Potiphar's wife with the temptation Jesus faced from satan after 40 days inthe wilderness. Practical application points at the end. Followed by communion.

God worked me over. Lot's of prayer.

Right at the end of the service I had the distinct impression of: "It is well with my soul."

Quite the difference from the feeling of the night before. And a great Father's Day present.

I have to be careful though. Feelings can deceive. I need to listen to the voice of God speaking through His Holy Spirit and follow the direction that I can discern. And thats not what I want to discern, its what I can discern.

For the road is narrow...

Rain Barrel

This last Saturday we went out to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore to look around. While there we bought a rain barrel kit. And we had a free hot dog, chips and iced tea.

Saturday afternoon, I put it in place and put it together. Then I waited for rain. And I waited. Prior to Saturday it rained eight days in a row. Finally, early this morning, it rained. A third of an inch. And the barrel overflowed. It is placed under the shortest length of gutter on the house.

Later this morning it poured again. But the barrel is not any fuller than it was before. It is just as full as it was and will remain so until I empty something out.

I'm reminded of our Christian life. God gives us a little and it is enough. We need to empty some out so that he can put something back in. Otherwise we will just sit in place slowly going stale and moldy.

So our goal is to empty ourselves to others. We have to look for those places that need water and be ready to give water.

And be ready and available to be filled again.

Walk

So this morning, before the sun came up, I went for a walk. The creek was running full over the small waterfalls after the half inch rain over night.

After work I went for a run in the 74 degree fall day with the wind out of the northeast. I guess it is still spring but it sure feels like fall.

After I grilled up the Shoyu Chicken that Loralie had made and we had a great dinner on the deck, I took Nikki (our dog) for a walk.

I was about 3/4ths of a mile in and deep in prayer. The Lord has laid a couple of things on me lately that I need to deal with. I was cruising along when I noticed out of the corner of my eye an older man struggling with a large trash can. Tomorrow is trash day (remind me to get the trash out tomorrow).

His cane was getting in the way. I was just about past him when I realized that I needed to at least ask him if he would like me to help him out with the trash can. He was really grateful. So Nikki (our dog) and I ran the can down to the street. Its one of those large ones that have to be placed in the correct position.

Then Nikki (our dog)and I continued on our way.

And it struck me. How many other times have I been so wrapped up in doing ministry that I miss the opportunity to minister to someone who needs it?

I could have just kept on walking wrapped up in my own prayers and thoughts and missed the opportunity to help someone in need.

I have to be more open to those opportunities.

And next time I have to spend a little more time talking with the person I am trying to help...

Hitting Home

So it has finally come home to roost.

Up to now it has been kind of abstract and distant.

But today, I found out that some friends have disconnected their home phone and business line and have their house on the market. They have been been building houses for years and the market has dried up to almost nothing in the high end houses that they built. And they have three houses to sell.

There were no building permits issued in Overland Park last month for new construction.

So what is the upshot of this? The electrician doesn't wire any new houses, the finish crews don't put in trim, the painters can't paint, the roofers don't get paid to roof and plumbers don't run pipes. And lumber yards don't move product. And these people don't spend money on other things. And the impact expands.

So it is time to pray for those in similar situations...

Blue Screens and Birds

This past week I was out the door by 0445 every morning.

Once to be at work and the other days to go for a walk. Took the dog one morning but she was so tired she refused to go the rest of the week.

Two things struck me as the week went on. The first was that the birds were singing loudly that early in the morning. It was beautiful. No dogs running loose (although there was a strange noise in the bushes down by the creek), not much traffic and no one else out walking.

Just me and the birds.

But I saw something else. In many houses there was this weird blue glow from behind drawn curtains. Could have been televisions, could have been computer screens left on all night. One house had the curtains wide open so that I could see what the big screen TV was playing (ESPN Sportscenter). Didn't see anyone around watching.

So what does this mean?

I don't know. But the contrast was startling. The birds singing was sharp contrast to the glow of the blue screens behind drawn curtains.

Now I have to be honest. I checked the weather before heading out and our curtains are drawn at night and a couple of days this week I couldn't sleep so I had the TV on.

But the birds remind me that I need to spend more time outside, looking for life going on all around me and not inside waiting for someones ideas of life to be presented to me.

Tightly Wound

So yesterday I was reading my Bible and praying and the words: "tightly wound" kept coming to mind. Over and over.

I came to the conclusion that I was wound so tightly about myself that I wasn't hearing God. I was letting the stress get to me. Not enough sleep. Weight creeping up. No motivation to do anything. Work pressures. Family visits. Trying to be (get) in shape. Trying to please men. Worrying about things that I can't even remotely control.

So I have started to unwind. Took a nap at 5PM and went to bed at 930.
Still got up at 405 this morning and off to work at 440. Still went to Bible Study ( took my Dad). Still had a ton of e-mails and phone calls to deal with. Turned it all over to God because I can't possibly deal with it all myself.

You see, I have to be a God pleaser and not a man pleaser. Don't get me wrong, I can not deliberately set out to offend men, for this displeases God. But I must always attempt to please God first and foremost and seek his will for me and my life.

If I worry first about pleasing God the rest will fall into place.

Oh, I was tired tonight. I still went for a run to break the carbon loose.
But I don't have to go into work quite so early tomorrow.

Might just get the dog out for a walk before the sun comes up.

That would be a good unwinding...

Silence

Yesterday I was tired of noise.

So I turned stuff off. I didn't have the radio on as I went to and from Bible study in the morning.
I kept the radio off all day at work.
Didn't play music through the computer.
Kept the radio off when doing errands at lunch.
Turned down the ringer on my phone. I could still hear it and I did answer it but it wasn't near as loud. Kind of nice.
I did turn on the radio for a bit in the car as I drove to ref a soccer match since the skies were black and ominous looking. But I found it distracting.

It was...pleasant.

Found myself thinking for a change (I know, something new for me).
But without all the noise I heard more than I usually do.

I wasn't quiet by any stretch of the imagination.
If anything, I noticed just how much noise is going on around me all the time.

But I think that I heard more when I didn't try to fill up the quiet with noise...

Dry Spell

I've had several people ask me when I was going to have a new entry.
OK, it was really two people so not quite several but more than one.

Lots has happened but nothing has made it to the keyboard and to the blog.
It has been a dry spell.

I have had good intentions to sit down and put something down but just didn't make it. Excuses are plentiful. Too tired, too late, too burnt out, too uninspired, too distracted, too busy, too, too, too.

Excuses are just that excuses and they come in handy when we don't want to do something that we should do. And I like working on this blog.

But I have other dry spells in my life recently: not reading the Bible enough, not spending enough time in prayer, not getting enough sleep, not returning calls promptly at work.

Wow! That's a convicting list and I am sure that I could come up with some more things I am not doing right now that I should be doing if I thought about it for half a minute.

I can use the excuse that I am reffing high school soccer but there is that word again: excuse.

But that is winding down. Tonight I had one game that was done early. Next week the playoffs begin. And I should be done by the middle of the week.

Wonder what excuse I can use then...

Best Laid Plans

On Tuesday morning I was ready.

I had studied the chapter of Living Water by Brother Yun. I had underlined key sentences and looked up relevant Bible passages. I spent time in prayer and contemplation.

I was ready.

And then I went to the study that I (loosely) lead. And after prayers as we were eating one of the guys had a comment about Twitter. And this lead to a discussion about social media and the impact on society and we talked about engaging people.

And we talked about how people of different ages are connecting in different ways. And forming relationships.

A couple of guys are kind of technically challenged. They would admit it. I was reminded how evangelism has changed as society has changed. Not the message of evangelism, not the goal of evangelism, but the tools that we use. Where in the 30's and 40's street evangelism was the norm, in the fifties it moved to radio and TV and then to outreach lunches and breakfasts and stadium events.

While God will still use any and all of these tools today, they are not always as effective as they once were. We have to find new and innovative ways to engage people and build relationships and tell them about our faith.

We didn't get to go over the study that I had planned to do, but I think that we got through the stuff that God wanted us to get through.

My plans are not always His plans. My ways are not always His ways.

But I do know that His plans and His ways are always way better than mine..

Tired

Been a long weekend. And I am tired.

Started on Thursday night when I reffed a couple of games on artificial turf in 80+ degree heat. Then work on Friday following with two games including a double overtime game that ended late in 80+ degree heat.

Then Saturday was two games at Heritage Soccer park in high humidity on the sloping field followed by mowing the lawn. I was wiped out.

But we had to practice for the benefit at Hope. So we spent some time doing that followed by loading the car. And then I couldn't sleep. Up until 2AM watching junk on TV.

Then I did sound at church and then off to Hope for the benefit.

So I am tired. But it is a satisfied tired.

The benefit was great. Lots of money was raised. Loralie sang very well. We saw old friends. Met some new ones. We heard stories of everyday miracles in the lives of friends of ours. I didn't stumble too much in what I was supposed to stay.

Ran a bit on adrenaline.

I realized that our participation was an offering.

And that it is enough...

Living Water: Hearing God's Voice

Chapter 13: Hearing God's Voice of Brother Yun's Living Water

Brother Yun says that his theology is simple. All we have to do is listen and obey.

All too often we Christians do not stop and listen to God.
We are too concerned with giving God our concerns and listing out our problems and not stopping long enough to listen for what God wants to tell us.

Our prayer becomes a one way conversation which is not a conversation at all, it is a speech. And that is not the way to communicate with the God of the universe.

Brother Yun also says in this chapter that the Christian who hears the Word and then does not go out and do it is deceived. Sobering thought.

The other point that really jumped out at me is that God does not often shout. And there is so much "noise" coming at us through the media, through the pace of life, through our world. And God whispers.

We have to be willing to hear, to get away and listen, be willing to shut out the world and hear what God is telling us. This is difficult.

As I drove away from this meeting I was totally convicted that I need to quit trying to please man and be more concerned with pleasing God. Even if the men I am trying to please are godly men (at least on the surface). That doesn't mean that I will go out of my way to irritate or turn people off, but instead it means that instead of caring what people may say or think of me, i need to care about what God thinks of me.

Time to be a God pleaser and not a man pleaser...

Yard

Last fall, I got tired of the weeds and bare spots in my yard. So I started following the instructions from a local lawn and garden center on taking care of the lawn.

I verticut the lawn, reseeded it, fertilized it and put down lime. I put winterizer down at the right time. I sharpened the mower blade. I made sure the leaves were up over winter. I put down preemergent and fertilizer at the right time. I sprayed for broad leaf weeds at the suggested time.

I even edged the lawn.

So by following the instructions, my lawn looks pretty good. Lush and dark green.

My yard isn't perfect though. Still have a pile of brush out back that I need to take care of in the corner of the yard. And there are still weeds and patches of spurge and henbit that haven't died off yet. And I know that the grubs are lurking and I will have to take care of them when the time is right.

I'm just reminded of how life is like my lawn. Far stretch you say?

You see: we have instructions. God wrote a book: the Bible. I can go my own way and try and do things the way I want to and ignore things and my life will get weedy and bare and parts will be neglected. Or I can follow the instructions and see dramatic improvement in a short time.

And when the time is right I will have to take care of that messy brush pile back in the corner and those pesky grubs lurking below the surface.

Going to take some effort and a several seasons to get the mess cleaned up...

Busy

Since Monday morning, I have reffed four high school soccer matches, prepared for a bible study, led a bible study, wrote an e-mail newsletter, done the laundry, mowed the lawn, trimmed the lawn, answered a bunch of music business e-mails, and done my day job - three times.

I haven't even had time to play any Half Life 2 on the XBox!

But I take comfort in that being this busy is just for a time, a season.

I know that the five hours of soccer a night will be over in mid to late May. And while I enjoy the reffing and interaction with the kids during the season (as well as the small amount of money that I get), I am sure glad when the season is over.

And I do try to keep some balance in my life by not reffing on Wednesday nights so that I can get caught up on all the stuff I can't do the rest of the week.

Unfortunately, Loralie sometimes feels like a soccer widow.

Especially when I have to leave before she gets up and get home about the time she is going to bed.

And that is never good...

Today

Today is Easter. Really different for us.

We went to church today at our daughter's new church that she just joined last Sunday. Our son was home for 24 hours from college and went with us. Lot's of people in attendance.

We go there early so that we could get a parking space.

I used the men's room prior to going into the sanctuary.

As I turned to wash my hands (yes, contrary to what some ladies may believe some men do wash their hands before leaving a rest room), I noticed a guy in a fairly distinctive shirt using a paper towel to wipe up the counter. Just getting it all nice and neat before he left. A little act of serving others.

Then once the service started there were three men and six women backing up the praise band in a sort of chorus. This guy was one of them (remember, he had a fairly distinctive shirt on).

As I reflected on this I came to the realization that I need to look for those little acts of servant hood. All too often it is about me and not others. And all too often, I miss those opportunities to show others just a little kindness, even if they don't know the kindness being done for them.

Amazing what one can learn on a trip to the men's room...

Reimagining Church

I just finished the book Reimagining Church by Frank Viola (no, not that Frank Viola for you fellow Twins fans). It might seem like it took a while (because it did) to those of you who have been following this. But I have been ready several other books at the same time.

Frank's central premise is that we need to move to a more organic church than the current model of the organized hierarchical pastor based model that currently exists throughout the United States. I couldn't agree more. Think of organic church as a house church.

But I am struggling with the radical solutions proposed by Frank.

Two things. One is that I fear the kind of intimacy that an organic church calls for from its members. Part of that is my Norwegian Lutheran stoic reserved heritage. Not that it is a bad thing, it is just a part of who I am.

The other thing, is that making the move to an organic church is a totally radical step. I have been steeped in the culture of being a "member" of a church. Of being a part of an organization. Of having "worship" planned out. Of having a liturgy.

So this all goes into the pot. Just as I am struggling with what to do about the organized, corporate church, I am struggling with where we go and who we gather to worship with. That is not elitist by the way. The who we gather to worship with should more accurately be phrased as to where are we supposed to be worshipping?

So the pot gets full of unanswered (for now) questions that go up to God and a look to the inspiration from the Holy Spirit as to the answers. It may be that this is a process of many small steps rather than a big leap.

I look forward tot he seeing what the answers are.

And I hope for the courage to follow through on those answers...

Easter Greetings

I sent this e-mail out to all those on our LL Songs mailing list and it is for you also:

Loralie and I wanted to wish you a blessed Easter this weekend.

Spring is a time of numerous new beginnings and fresh starts and nothing represents new beginnings like Easter weekend. Change is celebrated throughout the weekend. From Maunday Thursday (where the Last Supper is celebrated) to Good Friday (where Christ's death on the cross for our sins is observed) to Easter Sunday (where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead) new beginnings are observed.

And this is an Easter of new beginnings for Loralie and myself. For the first time in around ten years Loralie won't be singing at the sunrise service on Easter morning. Our church eliminated the service this year. And with our daughter Ellen joining a new church and working strange shifts, we have decided to attend her church with her this Sunday. We will also be able to gather with Loralie's sisters on Sunday afternoon since they have both moved to Overland Park in the past year.

So this year, whether you are celebrating old traditions or creating new ones, we hope that you will keep in mind the true reason for this Easter season and have a safe, restful and peaceful weekend.

Thanks:

Eric & Loralie Tangen

Living Water: Vessels of Refreshment

A pivotal chapter in Brother Yun's book Living Water.

This is titled: Vessels of Refreshment. I was really amazed at the depth of the chapter.

The explosive growth of the church in China is explained through a sort of "power month" where every believer was asked to lead three people to Christ and each leader asked to bring five people to Christ between Christmas and New Years. Then they are supposed to disciple those people and train them to reach others. And they did it!

This is so foreign to our practices in the US. We want to be comfortable and not reach out of our comfort zone. Telling someone about Christ is scary since we want to be liked and not looked at as strange.

Brother Yun points out that before we can expect to see a revival in our nation, believers need to have a revival in our hearts. We tend to pray for revival and then ignore the work that needs to be done bring it about. Or we expect others to bring it about while we stand on the sidelines and cheer them on. Maybe write a check once in a while. Sanitizing our faith instead of living it out in a world that desperately needs us to be real and authentic.

We're going to look at the chapter more next week. Too much meat in this chapter for one week.

Mercy

Friday night I refereed at two high school girls soccer matches.

Both were Catholic high schools (not that it has anything to do with this).

One team is experienced, the other is playing its first season. In fact, this was their first game ever.

The Junior Varsity game ended at half 10-0. The Varsity game ended at half 10-0. The more experienced team won both games. This was due to the Mercy Rule: You have to play at least a half and the winning team has to be up by 10 (or more) goals.

In youth soccer there is no mercy rule. You take the licking. Not a lot of fun sometimes for anyone. I've seen teams run up the score on an over matched opponent and then have the coach justify it by saying it was done to them in a previous season by some other team.

It was obvious from the first few minutes of the JV game to everyone involved what the outcome was going to be of both games.

But as the Referee of the JV game I had to make sure that I worked harder than anyone else on the field to stay involved in the game and to call the game in a fair manner. Regardless of the outcome, it is important to someone on the field.

And I owe it to them to give it my best.

But I have to admit: it was nice to be done early...

Living Water: As Bold as a Lion

Chapter Ten in our weekly bible study of Brother Yun's Living Water: Powerful Teachings from the International Bestselling Author of The Heavenly Man.

The chapter is about being bold.

As Brother Yun says: "The will of God should be the primary focus of all Christians. To glorify Him should be our greatest honor and privilege. All else is a waste of time, and this world is perishing while too many Christians live out fleshly lives full of compromise and selfishness."

This is all too true of me. But I think that Brother Yun forgets that our life is lived here on earth. And the earth is full of sin. We have to die to ourselves daily in order to live forever.

But God uses us in our imperfection to advance His purposes.

We have to die to ourselves and depend on the Lord to change us. It is not something that we can do in our own power.

But as the Lord changes us we can be bold in telling others about Christ. We must be bold and we must look for the opportunities that come our way to tell others about Jesus while we live our lives in this imperfect world.

Anything else falls short...

Community

Amidst all the busyness of day to day life, my mind keeps going north to Moorhead, Minnesota where my parents live and the flood rages.

Talking with my Mom and Dad and with my sister and reading the paper on line just drives home how important community is. Not the noun community, the verb community.

This is where life is lived with each other. This is where college and high school kids stop to help unload a stranger's pickup truck of sand bags at a stranger's house. This is where people go to church for support when their house is surrounded by flood waters and they don't know if it will still be there when they get back.

This is where a guy sits in his living room in shock at the rising waters while friends and neighbors battle on in the basement to save his home. This is where a guy works all day at this job and then goes and works half the night to help strangers defend their homes.

It's where young and old come together to do what seems to be impossible. It's where people drive four hours to help fill thirty pound sand bags in a stadium filled with sand and bags. It's where the colleges let out class and the students go to work helping the neighbors they haven't met in a city that may be their home for only a short time.

It's where the wife in a home threatened by rising water takes the time to feed the people that she doesn't know (and may never see again) that stopped to pile some more sand bags on the dike simply because the job needed doing.

Community is more than a place to live, it is a place where life is lived with each other. It is a place where when troubles come people band together and do their damnedest to solve the problem instead of sitting around and waiting for the government to do something. It's a place where leaders lead instead of wringing their hands.

Its where a sense of peace comes when all possible has been done and everything is in God's hands for good or bad.

Community is a place that I miss an awful lot at times like this...

CIA Summit First Wrap Up

Finally home. Whew!

Got home this afternoon (Sunday) from Nashville. We drove in to see Bradford pears at full bloom and a couple of neighbors have broken trees from the weight of several inches of snow. It''s good to be home.

Last night was the wrap up of the CIA Summit in Nashville. After tornado sirens and large hail (which we managed to avoid), the Momentum Awards ceremony was held followed by a concert by Margaret Becker.

Yesterday was a good day of presentations on the Future of Music, Marketing in an Internet Age and Producers and AR. Solid information presented.

At the concert we were talking with a young couple attending the Summit for the first time. They said that they got more information out of this conference than they have any other and that they had attended a lot of conferences.

Loralie and I came away with a long to do list in order to move her music ministry forward. The music industry is changing and there is a fundamental shift in how the public consumes music. The future is about engaging fans.

It is an exciting time to be involved with music.

And I am tired.

CIA Summit Day 4 - First Pass

Wow! Again.

And I am beat...

What a day! (again). This will take a while to process through.

And it is late and tomorrow we need to hit the road and head home. Heavy thunderstorms hit Nashville today while a blizzard hit home and flooding was going on in Minnesota. Will be good to get home.

We heard a ton of good stuff again today, but the highlight had to be Tom Jackson. He is a live performance producer who helps artists get their shows ready to go. We will listen to some tapes from last year on the drive home, but the thing that he said that really hit home was: "Don't let anyone tell you that you are too old to do this." It was something that I have never heard him say before.

It was also good to hear that the artist has to build a relationship with their fans. And we heard lots of good ideas on that.

So much more to process and think about and more to write but my mind is pretty much mush.

In a good way though...

CIA Summit Day 3 - part One

Wow!

My head is spinning! Started the day off with some music and then teaching by the Pastor of Provision International, Scott MacLeod. Great message on serving the poor and widows and orphans, especially in the poorest neighborhoods.

Grant Norsworthy than got up and hit us right between the eyes with a powerful message of worship not just through music but all the time. What an incredible message! Grant was the bass player for Sonic Flood and he talked a lot about the paradox of Christianity. Grant also took Dietrich Bonhoffer's quote on cheap grace and updated to today.

I love this quote:
"Cheap worship is the mortal enemy of our church. Our struggle today is for costly worship."

While I still think there is a huge battle against cheap grace, cheap worship rings so true to me.

We also have to admit that sometimes there are things wrong with us. That is a hard thing to do.

Then we had presentations on the structure of the music industry and a panel on management. Followed by an interview with a publicist and a panel on branding and a panel on merchandising. And somewhere in there was a presentation on podcasting and traps for musicians in thinking too highly of themselves and losing sight of God in it all.

The best part is the networking where we can talk with other artists and see what they are doing and what we can do to improve Loralie's ministry. Got to see the rappers from North Carolina again today as well as Change of Heart from California. They finally dropped off the charts and Loralie moved up to number 1! Pretty neat to see it finally happen especially at this conference.

Off again to a late night session of hanging out with other artists.
This is getting tiring...

CIA Summit Day 2

Today was kind of an off day.


We slept in and then went to the Summit. We listened to several singer/songwriters and heard differing levels of talent and production values.


Then we drove around downtown Nashville to see the sites. Nice to have a bit of time to do so.


Next we headed out to Radnor Lake Natural Area which is close to our hotel. Very neat place. We went hiking for a couple of miles. We saw a cardinal, a couple of Canadian geese, lots of turtles sunning themselves on logs, squirrels, a woodpecker, a duck, a chipmunk and an otter on a log eating a fish ( I think it was a crappie). It was good to get out and stretch our legs in the outdoors for a while and see the beautiful lake even if it was under gray clouds and the wildlife moving around. And it was the first time that I have seen an otter in the outdoors.

Then we headed down to the Mecca of debt free living Financial Peace University home to Dave Ramsey. We took the picture of the sign and the building and went inside to find the place under construction. Bookstore closed and the studio not open for viewing. Kind of anticlimactic.

We also heard today that one of the biggest reasons for failure in the music industry is that musicians carry too much debt.

Back to the hotel to saw some logs and then to the Foundry to just get blown away by a presentation on Business, Occupation and Ministry by Artists in Christian Testimony International. Really good presentation and there was info in there for about twenty posts. Byron Spradlin had some excellent stuff on the artist as a craftsman.

I think the big aha I got was that God may not use your occupation as your calling. It is an occupation and a way to support yourself and your family. And it is a ministry vehicle, a place to do ministry. And business is not bad in Christian circles. More later on all this.

We sat next to a couple of young Christian Rappers from Winston-Salem North Carolina. Had a great talk with them. Names are Nick and Mike. Good guys and fun to talk to. Late night and good to be done for the day. Tomorrow the real conference starts.

And my head will probably be ready to explode by the end of the day...

CIA Summit (Day One Addendum)

Getting ready for day two of Nashville.

Looking forward to it. Will be a day of singer/songwriters and bands showcasing their talents and music.

Last night, those who were at the songwriting conference had their names put in a hat and if their name was drawn they could go sing a song. We heard some good and some not quite as good. Some New Southern Gospel, Bluegrass, Praise and Worship, Contemporary Christian and even a guy who played like Jimmy Buffet. I don't quite know how to classify him.

But classification isn't important. Whether it is in the music industry or in the world. Classification only helps us develop reference points with which we can communicate with others. It hinders us in that it puts others into boxes in our minds that they probably don't belong in.

And when we do that we start to dismiss people because we confuse the boxes with the people.

And that is not good.

So today I am going to listen to music. Some I like and some I probably won't like. And regardless of the genre' (my big word for today), I will do my best not to put people into little boxes.

Could be an interesting day.

CIA Summit

Wow! First day of the CIA Summit in Nashville.

This was the songwriting seminar. Loralie attended and I audited. In a neat part of town in an cool old brick building in the inner city called The Foundry.

Lot's of good information and on songwriting that transfer to other disciplines (like writing). And lots of good techniques specific to songwriting.

But more than that it is a good chance to network and find out what other Christian artists are doing.

We've met people from North Carolina, California, Washington, Illinois, Missouri and there are more to meet in the next few days. We still have to meet the guy from the Netherlands and the guy from Australia.

A couple notes on the drive down: ten hours.

But a good chance to listen to CD's and talk. Some really good CD's from Tom Jackson on performances and managing your music ministry. This was recorded in Kansas City in 2005 and is still relevant today.

Time like that is a blessing.

As is this conference.

Sandbagging

My Dad just celebrated his 79th birthday.

I found out today that he is a sand bagger.

A little background.

I grew up in Moorhead Minnesota which is right across the Red River of the North from Fargo North Dakota. The towns sit in the middle of the Red River Valley which is basically flat for 20 miles in each direction from the river.

Every few years there seems to be a major flood with a lot of overland flooding. This is where the water runs over the land spreading out across the valley.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a major snow storm with a bunch of snow dumped on the area. Then it got up to 50 degrees this past weekend with some rain. And the ground is still frozen. So there is a lot of flooding in the area.

Sheriffs have closed roads and requested that schools cancel classes. One county closed 30 roads and said absolutely no travel after dark since they can't tell what roads are washed out. Portable flood barriers are being brought in to help control the damage.

The National Guard is being called up to help out.

Water systems are being shut down to prevent contamination and people are being asked to conserve water (seems a little strange in a flood). Stores are staying open late to allow people to buy flood supplies.

The colleges and tech schools have let out students to help sandbag. High school students are skipping class to sand bag. Prisoners are serving their sentences by filling sand bags.

Neighbors are helping neighbors and a community comes together.

I have to remind myself that the stuff is only stuff. Tough as it would be to be flooded out it is only stuff. But there are lives at stake. People are working too hard and stressed out watching the water rise.

And my 79 year old, retired teacher, cancer surviving father is down at the river helping two of his friends sand bag their homes.

And now for Something Completely Different

That is how my favorite show from the 70's started: And now for something completely different.

And this has nothing to do with Monty Python's Flying Circus.

But it is completely different from what I usually write about.

This is about basketball.

Kansas played North Dakota State today in the NCAA tournament in Minneapolis. This was the first time that NDSU made the tournament. Ever. First year of eligibility.

So in spite of the fact that my wife got her Masters at KU, I dug out my NDSU t-shirt and Bison hoodie to wear today here in the heart of Jayhawk country. I got the t-shirt when our daughter thought it might be good to attend college there. I think the hoodie came from Grandpa and Grandma for Christmas one year.

I don't think that most people recognized the colors or the logo. But that is OK. I still felt good about supporting the Bison.

And we also realized that our son Dan has played basketball against the starting center for KU: Cole Aldrich. This was back in eighth grade when Dan's team went to the national Lutheran school tournament in Valparaiso Indiana. They played a team from Bloomington, MN that had several kids over 6 foot tall. One was Cole who was 6'8" at the time. As an eighth grader. He's now 6'11" as a Sophomore in college.

I think Dan was around 5'4" at the time.

Dan's team lost.

But it is interesting in any event.

And one of the coaches on Cole's team was Randy Brewer who played for the University of Minnesota when I was going to school there. Same time as Kevin McHale.

So tomorrow it will be time for something completely different (from this at least).

And it was good to see NDSU put up a good fight.

Shepherds and Sheep

Interesting comment in Frank Viola's book: Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity. He talked about the common view of pastors as shepherds of their flocks.

The idea is that the pastor shepherds his flocks and encourages it to grow and flourish.

A couple of problems with this point of view. One is that it puts the pastor in the place of Christ the Good Shepherd. That opens up a whole can of worms regarding the priesthood of all believers and will have to be the subject of another post at another time (or more likely several posts over time).

Anyway, Frank also points out that earthly shepherds are "incapable of breeding their sheep. They also steal their wool and eat them for dinner!"

Is that the picture for you want of the modern pastor?

Rather than being an absurdity, unfortunately, too many times that picture is all too accurate. We only need to read the paper from time to time to see the "falls' that prominent pastors and leaders have made.

Rather than a leadership marked with humility and servanthood there is leadership marked by ego and greed. This runs counter to every picture of leadership in the Bible.

Both Old and New Testament.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of examples of egotistical and greedy leaders in the Bible, but without exception they are held out as examples of how not to behave and pay a price for their misdeeds.

I am beginning to question the need for a professional clergy.

I am not sure that it is a biblical concept.

And that too, will have to be the subject of another post on another day...

Living Water: True Freedom

Chapter Eight of Brother Yun's book Living Water: Powerful Teachings from the International Bestselling Author of The Heavenly Man. The chapter is titled: True Freedom.

In this chapter, Brother Yun recounts how it took prison for him to realize the freedom that he had in Christ and that "prison is mainly a state of mind rather than a physical place." He realized that by praising God in all things and for all things he could still be a witness for Christ in the midst of filth squalor and violence.

But even more powerful was how he talked about people in the "free" world who are tightly bound. People's hearts are "tightly chained with sin and addiction" and even though they look normal "they are prisoners within." Furthermore he states that this is the condition of many who attend church and: "They need the truth of Jesus to set them free!"

How true! We walk around with our smiling faces and we pretend that every thing is OK when we desperately need to get well. The problem is that our addictions, bitterness, sin, unforgiveness, lusts, greed, hate, etc, etc are comfortable to us. Christ is asking us if we want to get well and we are going: "Uh, let me think about that for a while. I am not sure that I want to give this up right now."

Once we let Christ heal us he can use us to reach others who are bound to the same sort of sin that we have been freed from. This process may be instantaneous or it may be gradual but the healing will take place.

And true freedom is ours for the asking.

We just have to ask Christ to set us free.

And He will.

Integrity

Went to lunch today. Usually I go home for lunch since it is only six tenths of a mile from work: close enough to walk home and back if I want. But I digress (as usual).

Anyway, today Loralie and I went up to Vineyard Christian Fellowship for a lunch sponsored by the Integrity Resource Center. Integrity Resource Center was founded and is run by my friend Rick Boxx and this was a recruitment event for the Kansas City Faith Incorporated event on 17 April.

Rick has the "vision of restoring integrity and faith at work."

Integrity is often missing from the business world. We only have to look as far as today's headlines with Bernie Madoff going to jail for perpetrating an estimate $50 billion dollar fraud to see that this character trait is sorely absent.

Rod Handley, President of Character That Counts was the main speaker today. Rod was formerly the CFO/COO of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). A couple of points really resonated with me.

Rod said that the root word of integrity is the same as that of integer (whole number, I had to look it up, too). The quote is that: "God is interested in integers and Satan is interested in fractions." What truth is wrapped up in that statement! Satan comes only to divide and separate. But God is interested in the whole person.

Rod also pointed out several results of integrity. A couple that stuck out to me were: A clear conscience and leaving a legacy.

These are extremely important results. Having a clear conscience before God is rare. Too often we retreat into self recrimination or self justification and we never admit to God our sins, our shortcomings. And we all fall short of the glory of God!

And leaving a legacy is critical for a man today. I am not talking about the legacy of money (although that would be nice), I am talking about the legacy of my life written in the lives of my children and others. But first my children. And by living my life in integrity to the greatest degree that I can with the help of God, I will leave that legacy.

I referee soccer. Frequently, prior to a game, I've had a parent or coach jokingly (I assume) ask me how much it would cost for their team to win the game. My response is always the same: "You don't have that much money." A couple of times, I've had a guy get his back up and say: "How do you know how much money I have?" And my response is always that my integrity is not for sale at any price.

That is an easy one. As Rod pointed out out, we need to exhibit integrity in all the little things too. For if I sell my integrity for a dollar, I might as well sell it for more.

May you walk in integrity in all that you do.

Living Water: Lazarus, Come Out!

Chapter Seven of Living Water by Brother Yun: Lazarus, Come Out!

Interesting in that Brother Yun draws the two stories of Mary and Martha together. He points out that in the West He has come across three types of people in the church.

The first is like Martha: busy serving others. They do lots of good things but mostly they are done for the sake of doing those things. As a result they miss Jesus in their midst.

The second is like Mary: sitting at the feet of Jesus.

The third is like Lazarus: dead. Spiritually dead for three or four days. Yet the parables show that Christ can bring the cold dead back to life. What hope there is for the churches of today where there is little or no apparent life or joy!

The Western church is generally like Martha: "You know the truths about God's Word in your head, but you still like to run your own lives." What a condemnation!

But even more: "So many churches and individual believers think they should make their own plans and strategies, then ask God to bless them."

I know that I and my church have been guilty of this recently.

And this is so contrary with what God wants us to do. He wants us to approach Him first and listen to what He has to say instead of arrogantly assuming that He will bless what we want to do because we want to do it.

"All that matters is that Jesus loves you and He wants to be your best friend."

Articles

Two articles came my way today. Each in their own way have given me much to think about.

The first was reported by Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press with the headline of "More Americans say they have no religion." The survey was the American Religious Identification Survey.

This article points out that the number of Americans who say they have no religion is growing and is now at 15%. Roughly 75% identify themselves as Christian and another 10% identify themselves as other (Jewish, Muslim, etc). This is down from 86% in 1990.

There is a downward trend in the number of Americans who say that they are Christians. And remember, just because you call yourself a Christian doesn't mean that you are one.

The second article was in The Christian Science Monitor by Michael Spencer and titled "The coming evangelical collapse."

Mr Spencer expects that within the next ten years there will be a major collapse in evangelicalism in the United States. The main points are that evangelicals have tied themselves too closely to political conservatism in the culture wars. We have also failed to pass on to our young the ability to withstand a cultural onslaught on their faith. They know what they should think but not why.

It pretty much comes down to a widespread ignorance of the Bible. We have failed to become biblically literate. We have failed to use the Bible as a relevant tool in our day to day life.

A couple of good passages from the article:

"American Christians seldom seem to be able to separate their theology from an overall idea of personal affluence and success."

We miss the boat. From our performance based worship services and corporate style church governance, we have allowed the culture to dictate how we do church. This includes the rise of the modern mega church and the continued fragmentation of denominations.

Mr Spencer also asks the question: Is the coming collapse a bad thing?

I don't think so. First of all I don't necessarily agree with his basic premise that the evangelical church will collapse within the next ten years. But as I have grown increasingly dissatisfied with the corporate church and canned, passive, performance based worship, I have come to the conclusion that radical change is sometimes a desirable thing. And sometimes that radical change is painful to all involved.

And finally, Mr Spencer states:

"We can rejoice that in the ruins, new forms of Christian vitality and ministry will be born. I expect to see a vital and growing house church movement. This cannot help but be good for an evangelicalism that has made buildings, numbers, and paid staff its drugs for half a century.

We need new evangelicalism that learns from the past and listens more carefully to what God says about being His people in the midst of a powerful, idolatrous culture."

Amen, brother.

We need to be aware of whose we are and where we are. And I think that all too often we forget that.

Satisfaction

Yesterday was a very satisfying day.

I learned how to use a new computer program (EMail Marketing Professional).
I set up several e-mail lists to use mass e-mail capabilities.
This included both importing an email list and hand entering a bunch of contacts.
I tested the set up.
I developed an email to mail out.
And I sent it out.

I fully realize that there are a whole bunch of "I"s in those sentences as well as this sentence. My point is not to glorify the work that I did. Loralie had to do a lot of work in getting the email list together and check my test emails.

But the whole point of this is that we got something completed that took a bit of effort and we got it done at the appropriate time for what we are trying to accomplish.

And that is very satisfying.

All too often I have a bunch of not quite finished things going on and I just never get around to finishing them.

And the satisfaction of finishing a task is lost.

It takes finishing something like this to remind me of the simple joy in completing a task.

I need to do this more often.

Now I have to get those shelves finished for Ellen...

Debt

I went to church last night.

They gave out numbers on how they were doing with the budget which is not good.

First some background and a disclaimer: I have talked about everything that I am going to mention with the Pastor and leadership of my church. That is the disclaimer.

I hate debt. Debt is wrong. It is not evil, just wrong. We still have our mortgage, but we've paid off our consumer debt. We're still trying to figure out whether or not to pay off the mortgage.

Some background. Our church has $5 million in debt on the building. Last Mothers Day, a marketing presentation was made in place of the sermon on the need to build an addition on to the building in order to "support the ministry." This was a shock to most people in the congregation. Nothing had been said prior to Mother's Day.

Later, around July, prayer started around the whole thing.

Part of the plan was to reduce the debt with 20% of the proceeds going to debt reduction. The goal was somewhere around $3 million.

Roughly $1.4 million has been pledged. Far short of the goal. And blamed on the economy. I happen to believe that God will provide regardless of the economy if it is in his will.

Our payments on the debt run around $20,000 a month.

Interesting. For that is about what we short in offering for February.

I know that if we try to do this in our human abilities we will have human results. And so far the
results seem to be about what the rest of society is experiencing.

Is this God trying to tell us that we would be OK if we pay off the debt? Or is it just me trying to see what I want to see in my humanness?

Humbling

My wife Loralie is a singer/songwriter.

Actually, she is an excellent singer songwriter, but I have to admit that I might be slightly biased. But only very slightly.

She is a member of IndieHeaven, an organization for independent Christian musicians. Indie Heaven has as part of their site (indieheaven.com), Fan Faves where artists can post their songs and then fans can go in and vote for them once a day. Songs move up and down the chart based on the fan votes. Songs stay on the chart for 30 days.

Loralie posted her song "Face of Jesus" last Wednesday. It was up to 10 on the chart as of this morning.

I sent out a total of around 100 emails to people urging them to "vote early and vote often". Most are fans and some are friends and some are both.

The response has truly been amazing and really humbling.
We've heard from our daughter that a friend of hers is voting every day and asked his co-workers to vote also. We've never met the guy. but he is excited about the whole thing.

A lady in a retirement home (I mean "lifestyle enhancement community with a minimum age of 62") who goes to our church said that she was voting every day.

We got an email from a friend saying that his family was casting five votes a day since they have five computers.

Another friend called to say that she and her husband had just voted on their computers. Kind of a couple thing.

We heard from a couple that moved to Florida and had my original e-mail forwarded to them. The wife said that Loralie's song reminded her to forget the busyness of life and focus on what is important. Wow!

And these are just part of it.

My Mom is watching the chart everyday (I am not sure if she has asked the Knit Wits to vote though).

It is really humbling and it is really neat to see how the message spreads and the tribe grows.

Part of the beauty of Fan Faves is that it allows us to connect with Loralie's fans and ask them to do something simple. It engages them with her music and ministry in the absence of a live performance or a new CD.

People want to help and this gives them something concrete and easy to do.

And it also exposes her music to others who may not have heard it before. And some may not know Jesus.

Helping others know Jesus is what it is all about.

Even if we never know who might hear.

I have to go and vote now...

Living Water: The Person God Uses

My copy of Living Water by Brother Yun is getting pretty marked up.

This week it is chapter six: The Person God Uses.

One of things that stood out to me was the statement: "There is so much Christian activity being done in the name of the Lord today that does not have His power or presence at its core."

I totally agree with this statement. There is so much being done in our humanity. When we do human things in human power we get human results. Whether it is a sermon or a meeting or a fundraising campaign, if God is not in it, it will not have Godly results.

The last sentence of the paragraph stood out: "Such "work" is tragic and never produces true fruit for the kingdom of God." I disagree with that statement. I think that it limits God and I think that God will use even our feeble efforts as it suits him. I came to know Christ through a preacher who has been discredited as a false faith healer and called a heretic.

We are also cautioned to let our ministry become an idol. "We can trick ourselves into thinking that everything is alright because the people seem to be blessed by what we have to say." this happens when we lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing and who gets the glory. If we let the "glory" get in our eyes we start to rely on ourselves and not on God.

We are cautioned to remember that we are nothing without God! How different this is from what we are told in the West! We are told to be self sufficient, to get ahead, to get promoted collect the toys and the house and the cars. Rely on yourself.

Not how I want to live. Anymore...

Church and church

A conversation with a friend last week got me thinking. I know, an unusual occurrence, me thinking...

Anyway, we seemed to be having some trouble connecting until we realized that we were operating under different meanings of a key word. After that it became a lot easy to at least understand each others positions.

And that brings us to church. I think that there are two definitions of church that are not necessarily mutually exclusive but can cause a lot of disagreement.

The first definition is the body of believers in Jesus Christ. The second definition is a group of people who meet together to worship usually in a building also called a church.

Frank Viola (no, not that Frankie Viola) in his excellent book Reimagining Church points out that Paul in his letter to the Romans calls the church all those whom God has accepted (Romans 15:7). Thus the church spans denomination and division. We are called into fellowship with all who believe regardless of what label they (or we) may apply.

The church of Christ consist of all believers in Jesus Christ who have accepted the free gift of eternal life granted through his death on the cross for our sins. Period.

Anything else is divisive. This includes denominations. All denominations. Nowhere in scripture is it found that we have to belong to a particular group for eternal salvation.

I am convinced that there are many sitting in a church on Sunday who don't know Christ and are there for the entertainment. The sermon and the music. Yet they talk about being members of a particular church.

Again: membership doesn't save anyone. Neither does worship preferences.

We must recognize that our brothers and sisters are those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior regardless of what labels are attached to them. Anything else is wrong.

But we also have to be discerning, humble and patient to know who is our brother and sister.

Waterfront

Was watching NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams tonight waiting for the local weather to come on so that I could find out how much snow we are supposed to get in the blizzard tonight (answer: three inches, should totally shut down the city - according to the weather wonks).

The final segment was about a church in Schaumberg, IL named Waterfront Community Church.

The story focused on it's policy of giving away 100% of the offerings.

They meet in the local high school. The pastor's office is a local coffee shop with Internet access. Praise band practices in someones house during the week.

And they use the offerings to help people in need.

All the offerings.

People who need medical help.
People who need financial help.
People who have lost their jobs.

People who need to know Christ.
And this was portrayed on the national news.

They don't have a lot of overhead.

Unlike most churches.

I'll be honest. I don't know how the Pastor is supported and I think there are some other staff.

But I do know this: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

At first glance it looks as though one church has a good start on this verse.