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.

Fan Faves

So I have been busy the last couple of days working on letting people know about Loralie's song being up on Fan Faves at IndieHeaven.

The song that is up is Face of Jesus and we are excited to have it up and exposed to other independent artists.

I view this as all marketing and exposure for her music.

But it does give rise to the question: How much is enough?

For example, between yesterday and today:

We got an email from an outfit in New Zealand that promotes Christian artists and a guy in India that does music transcribing (which we need by the way). And then I had initiated contact with a group that reviews Christian CDs. And got an e-mail back from the guy who runs the review site. And mailed off a package of CD's to Indieheaven on consignment.

And did all the other stuff such as work and try to sleep.

So back to my original question: How much is enough? Part of the problem is that this is all fun and exciting. It is exciting to see how the new exposure of Facebook and IndieHeaven is helping us expose more people to Loralie's music and ministry.

So I guess I will know how much is enough when it gets to be drudgery and not fun. And then I can go back tot he XBox.

Gaming

Interesting article by Jim Rosignol over on www.boingboing.net in the Offworld section (view BoingBoing at your own risk but OffWorld is pretty safe).

Jim interviews game designer Ed Stern. Ed has designed several outstanding video games including "Return to Castle Wolfenstein". Any way, Ed makes the comment that all too often game designers try to design for the "in crowd" of hardcore gamers instead of the the community of gamers at large. There are the in jokes and designs in the games that many casual gamers just don't get or appreciate.

Ed even argues against innovation to a certain degree, saying that if you want to bring in more people you have to have things at least partly familiar.

As I read the article I was reminded of how similar this is to the Christian experience. We become so familiar with our own vocabulary and rituals that we fail to realize how outsiders might feel when they visit our churches and services. To the unchurched, a typical worship service in a typical church can be almost incomprehensible.

Add in something like communion and many first time visitors will be out the door never to return.

And I am not sure that the so called "seeker sensitive" services are the entire answer either. I have heard it many times that the goal of our evangelistic efforts is to get our neighbors to come to church with us.

I think that is the wrong approach. We need to get people to Christ. First. Foremost. Always.

And too many times church is a hindrance to getting people to Christ.

Time to go check out Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter...

Living Water: Pregnancy of the Holy Spirit

Chapter five of Living Water by Brother Yun this morning.

Interesting chapter (as usual). The author uses the story of Mary becoming pregnant through the Holy Spirit as his primary illustration.

Brother Yun makes the statement: "Do you realize that God wants all Christians to be pregnant with the Holy Spirit today? He wants to give you a vision for His kingdom that originates from Heaven, not from yourself. He desires that all of His children would be overshadowed by His presence in such a way that they are changed and give birth to something in their lives that brings many into His kingdom."

I think that the idea of being "pregnant with the Holy Spirit" is a tough thing for men in particular to relate to. I think that it is much easier for women to relate to especially when the metaphor turns to giving birth.

Unfortunately I think that today many people are not seeking the Holy Spirit in their lives. They are content to do the religious activity that is often required by the organized church and not truly seek God's will in their lives. To many, "worship" is an hour or so obligation each week where they want to be entertained. They watch the praise band perform because they don't know the words to the songs. They listen to a lecture from center stage. They smile fake smiles and say fake things and then go home and live life as if they don't know Christ.

They are the Christians who have found Christ and pulled out the lawn chair and plopped down and said: "Made it. Wake me when Christ returns. Let me know if you need anything."

And then if the church calls they may be willing to go to work if it doesn't get too spiritual.

Again to quote Brother Yun: "Today much Christian activity seems to originate with human plans, and it is then carried out in human strength with human results. It has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God."

Unfortunately, I have seen far too many church projects bathed with a minimum of prayer and then presented to "the body" as the Lord's will and then miserably fail because they are actually our human wants and desires and not actually God's will.

The last quote from the book for today: "Unfortunately, there are many in the church today who will do all they can to stamp out your call and enthusiasm for the Lord." I have experienced this first hand.

This comes under the guise of: "We've never done it that way before." or "We've prayed about it and it is not the Lord's will." or "We have to make things suitable for the community." or "You'll have to go through training." or "What you want to do just won't work out." or any of a hundred other excuses to just keep on keeping on and not seek the Lord's will for His Church.

And we have to keep that in mind: It is His Church, not our church.

Working

New windows are in!

And they look great!

I think the thing that most impressed me about the whole process was the crew.
They were great ambassadors for the company even though they were subcontractors to handle the installation.

They showed up early. Grandpa, his two sons and grand daughter.

They were genuinely concerned that we like the windows and not just the installation.

They were quick to joke and poke fun at each other but they didn't goof off.

I thanked each of them for the work they did and each of them said "thank you for the business".

They were done early.

They did good work and they obviously took pride in the quality of their work.

Some workers seem to think that we should be grateful that they see fit to come out and do the work. Not these guys.

Really a pleasure. Now we just have to get rid of the fishbowl...

Fishbowl

I am excited!

New windows come tomorrow! It will be nice to get rid of these cheap builder's grade, broken, vinyl windows and get new, energy efficient replacement windows. I am also looking forward to lower utility bills both in the summer and winter.

One problem with all this is that we have to clear access to all the windows being replaced. Not a big problem, just takes a little bit of time to move some furniture and clear the window sills.

The other problem is a bit bigger and I am not quite sure what to make of it. We have to take down all the window coverings and hardware. It really brightens up the house. And it really seems like it lets people see in.

We are replacing the kitchen, dining room, laundry room and my office windows.

It kind of feels like people can really see in. I feel like I need to watch what I do.

But isn't this how I should live my life everyday? Like everything can be seen and the people around me can see everything I do? God tells us that nothing is hidden from Him and all will be made known.

All too often I hide behind the curtains and ignore my neighbors and those around me. I erect barriers that keep others from getting to know me. These barriers are flimsy at best.

Don't get me wrong. I do not think that we should eliminate all curtains. I just think that I need to start living my life like all the curtains are gone.

What kind of changes would there be in your life if you lived that way? How would the world look if we all lived that way? And would we have the courage to live that way?

Water Bottle

On Tuesday, the Print Shop had an open house to show off a bunch of new equipment and processes. I send pallets and pallets of paper there every month.

I went over to see a couple of paper vendors that I do a lot of business with and I picked up some samples of various products that they sell.

The next day my guys went over to do the morning pick up and delivery and the Print Shop people gave them some stuff the vendors had left for our department. I got a nice notebook.

Later that day one of my guys was showing me all the other stuff he had got. There was a really dumb paper car (dust collector) that made noise and a really cool stainless steel water bottle.

I instantly thought "Where is mine?" although I didn't say anything. Other thoughts ran through my mind like: " I do a ton of business with those guys, why didn't I get a water bottle too?" and "What if one of the guys swiped mine?"

I was kind of steamed for a bit.

Until I realized something: ITS ONLY A STUPID WATER BOTTLE!

And it was not a big deal. I can go buy one if I need one. And I don't need one.

I was not slighted in this and if I was so what?

See, all too often we covet junk just for junk's sake. I am just as guilty (if not more so) as everyone else. But I need to learn to be content with everything. And I need to rejoice with my guys that they got a nice gift.

So I repented of my greed in this matter and I hope that I learned my lesson (probably not though, I seem to be a pretty slow learner in some things.

And Father's day is in June so I can add a stainless steel water bottle to my wish list.

And I'll be happy with just a card.

Persecution

Since reading the Living Water chapter about No Turning Back, I have been thinking a lot about persecution.

My thoughts were that persecution is the sign of a living church. A church that is growing and impacting the world about it will have detractors and Satan will actively oppose that church.

I haven't known too many people who have really suffered for their faith.

But there is one that I knew a few years ago. So here is the disclaimer: I may mess up on some of the details since it was over thirty years ago. I will make the best attempt at this.

There is one man that I can recall who the chaplain of the Civil Air Patrol Unit that I was in when I was in high school. As I recall his name was Larson and he was a retired pastor/missionary who taught at the local Lutheran College. In fact both of my parents had him as a professor when they had attended Concordia in Moorhead in the late 1950's.

Pastor Larson had been a missionary with his wife in the Philippines when World War Two started. He and his wife spent the war in a Japanese internment camp. As I recall his wife never was the same and suffered for years afterward from the effects of the deprivations.

I recall that he was quiet and gentle and carried himself with a kind of dignity that was often lost on the rabble of high schoolers who pretty much didn't care for his message and who didn't have an appreciation for how difficult those times must have been for he and his wife. He didn't share his story too often either.

My parents later told me that after his wife died he went back to the Orient as a missionary. I am not sure if it was Taiwan or the Philippines.

I didn't really come to faith in Christ until much later in my life. And I haven't thought much about Pastor Larson until this week.

But he was the kind of guy who when he went home to be with the Lord I am pretty sure heard those words: "Well done, good and faithful servant."

May the same be said of me...

Living Water: No Turning Back

Interesting chapter of Living Water by Brother Yun. We are told that we must expect opposition to when we obediently follow God.

The first thing that struck me is the statement: In fact, it could be argued that Satan only attacks those plans that he knows originate from God's throne. Brother Yun states that there are many things that Christians are involved in that have little impact on Satan and his plans.

I think that is a huge problem in the church in the United States today. We are so wrapped in all sorts of activity that drain our focus from what God wants us to do that we have little impact for the Kingdom. We are lukewarm and we are not hot for the Gospel and spreading the message that Christ died for our sins.

We are so distracted that we fail to focus on God's calling for each one of us.

I think that one reason we don't have a lot of persecution in the United States today is that we as a church are indistinguishable from the rest of society.

Brother Yun also states that we are called to suffer for the kingdom and to endure until the end. This is the central theme of Steve Farrar's excellent book: Finishing Strong. The Bible has numerous cases of people that start out well and don't endure to the end. David is the one that springs to mind as well as Saul and Solomon.

Looking forward to the conversation about this tomorrow.

Valentines Day

Today is Valentine's Day.

A day for forced romance.

A day to buy something to symbolize something we should be telling each other everyday.

A day to pretend that problems don't exist in personal interaction.

A day to overeat.

A day to over consume.

A day to pay way too much for flowers that will be shrivelled up by next weekend.

A day that is exciting for the first year or so of a relationship.

A day that has changed to commercialism.

Results

So the total results are in.

Fifty job equivalents lost. Savings of roughly $4.5 million for next fiscal year.
Reductions spread pretty evenly around in all departments.

No upper administrators lost their jobs but two unfilled positions were eliminated.

Not planning on any pay increases next year.

And this is only the first one. We were warned that it is only the first step.

I have to remember that behind each of the positions is a person.

Some people are retiring and that is a good thing. About 10 positions are currently vacant. But the other 35 or so people are facing the loss of jobs and more importantly for many: benefits. Good benefits.

Tough to take.

Have to say a prayer for them...

Trust.

Yesterday (Wednesday) at 130 Pm I got a call to go to my boss's office.
I asked if I needed to bring anything and he said no.

I got over to his office and met with him and his boss.
I was told that I was losing one position and who it was.

No input, no chance for rebuttal, nothing.
I was told that the directive across the board was such that they couldn't involve me in the decision making process and that it was the same for all the managers across the board.

So basically, it came down to those most distant from the work being done decided who should go and who should stay.

Not a great way to engender confidence among the middle level managers.

Further all the notification was handled by the HR department with no input from any of the managers. Not a great way to handle things. I would rather have been involved since I have been supervisng this guy for hte past eight years.

So I (and every other manager) have been told through the way that this process has been handled that I can not be trusted.

I understand that there was a need to avoid needless rumors among everyone.
But this is not a good way to develop support for the organization in a difficult time.

All it does is breed suspicion and distrust.

Reimagining Church

I am reading a bunch of books right now.

One is Living Water by Brother Yun which is mentioned in other posts. Another is The Flaxen Femme Fatale by Zakour (title is much more lurid than the content). Still another is The Urban Homestead by Coyne and Knutzen (don't like the zoning laws against chickens in the city here in Kansas!).

But right now I am making the most progress through Reimagining Church by Frank Viola (not the Frankie Viola, pitcher for the Twins). The book is about home churches and how they function.

More than that there is the examination of a lot of the traditions and practices in organized religion. Things such as big buildings, non participatory worship, hierarchical church leadership, religious doctrine and the like.

And I keep coming across other things that point in the same direction such as the article today in Christianity Today on music and how so much of the music in church is performance based.

Going TO church is not the same as BEING the church and much of organized religion tends to suck the joy out of worship.

I have often heard the saying that religion is DO and Christianity is DONE. This means that religion requires us to do things to achieve salvation while Christ's death on the cross means that we don't have to do anything, salvation is accomplished.

Unfortunately, organized Christianity has turned Christ's death and resurrection into a religion.

I'll be honest, I am not sure how I am to deal with this...

More prayer... for a start.

Tired

I am tired. I am tired of turning on ESPN and hearing about Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) and his steroid test.

A couple of thoughts: The tests were supposed to be anonymous and the results never revealed. Then the Federal Government subpoenas the two lists and work out who tested positive.

So the first lesson learned is don't trust the government. As a Christian, I am supposed to submit to the authorities. Don't see anything about trusting them.

I do not think that whoever revealed the test results is on any higher moral ground than A-Rod. I think that individual (or individuals) have serious integrity issues.

The second thing that struck me is that A-Rod had been lying about his usage for six years. he even lied on national TV. Then this whole matter became public.

During his coming clean session with Peter Gammons, he said that he felt like a load had been lifted from his shoulders now that this lesson is public.

What a lesson! If we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins. God forgives us and takes that burden from us.

We are also told that all things will be revealed. Nothing can be hid from God. Nothing we have ever done has been hid from God. A-Rod has had one of his mistakes revealed for the world to see and is suffering the humiliation of being found out.

But someday we will all face God and answer for our sins. Forgiveness releases us from the burden of carrying our sins around. Confession is good for the soul.

Common Ground

It's a phrase I've heard often: Find common ground.

I was reminded of that late this afternoon. My wife and I were at the Home Remodeling/Lawn and Garden/Green Show at Kemper Arena. Big Place with lots of exhibits and walking.

Late in the day when we were both dead tired, Loralie saw a friend that she knew from several years ago. She and her husband were manning a booth at the show for her interior design business.

Loralie introduced me to her friend and her friend introduced me to her husband and soon the tow ladies were in conversation. At this point I had two options.

Option one was to stand there and feel my navel accumulate lint at a slow rate.

Option two was to engage the husband in conversation in an attempt to find some common ground between the two of us.

This starts by asking questions and listening. Its easy to start with the standard guy question: "What do you do for a living?" and then listening to the answers. This gentleman mentioned that he had worked in California. Since my wife grew up in California, this led to other avenues of conversation.

I was even able to find out that he had served in the Navy (who's sole purpose is to support the Marine Corps and carry them to the beach).

I am convinced that we can find common ground with just about anyone. This could be experiences, jobs, places lived, religions, sports, activities, kids, vacation activities, books read, movies seen, etc, etc, etc...

It takes being interested in the other person and really listening to their answers. I'll be honest, at times I don't feel like talking much. But I need to engage others around me. I am called to deal with whoever is in front of me at any given time.

And I need to remember that always. Even at the Home Remodeling/Lawn and Garden/Green Show.

Save a Life

I saved a life today. More likely it was at least two lives and maybe three.

I donated blood. So I saved a life today.

Didn't take too long. I was out of there in 45 minutes.

There are a lot reasons to donate.
One is that I can. I am healthy enough to donate. No HIV, no Hepatitis C (or A and B for that matter). Weight and Blood Pressure within the good limits.

Another reason is that there is a huge need for donated blood. For surgery and for emergencies the demand is high. And it can save a life.

Anther reason is that it helps me. Studies have shown that donors are healthier than non- donors. Doctors think it has to do with getting rid of excess iron in the system. Maybe those old bleeders (barbers) were on to something back in the 16th and 17th century.

Still another reason is that the person who gets my blood can do absolutely nothing to thank me. It is totally anonymous. I can do something for someone who I will probably never meet but who needs my help.

It's pretty cool.

I saved a life today.

Excuses

Excuses are like belly buttons, everybody has one.

But now I am seeing an epidemic of excuses.

We seem to grab at whatever we can to excuse our behavior.

Churches use the economy to excuse down giving and not face the reality of spiritual bankruptcy.

Business use the bad economy to excuse poor results and not face the reality of bad decisions and mismanagement.

Husbands use not having their needs taken care of as an excuse to leave their families and don't face the reality that they are selfish.

Politicians use I forgot to excuse not paying taxes and don't face the fact that they should be held to a higher standard than the rest of us as custodians of the public trust.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It is time that we face up to that and admit that we are less than perfect. The sooner we do that the sooner we will quit making excuses.

If we admit that we screwed up and are ready to take the consequences for our actions, it takes the wind out of those who accuse us.

Stepping Out in Faith?

What does that mean? Stepping out in faith.

I think the term comes from when the Israelites crossed the Jordan under the leadership of Joshua. The Jordan River was at flood stage and didn't stop flowing until the leaders feet hit the water.

Today we often hear the term used in connection with building projects or fundraising in the church. I think that all too often we are using the phrase to justify starting something that we want to do in our humanness and not something God has blessed.

The Israelites had forty years of wandering in the wilderness to come to grips with the fact that God wanted them to possess the land no matter what obstacles they may see in front of them. All too often today we spend an hour in prayer and then say that we know that God wants us to step out in faith.

I am not sure that stepping out in faith is the correct path unless we are 100% certain that God is directing us. When looking at building plans (where I most often hear this phrase) all the major building projects in the Bible were provided for in full before they began. This includes the tabernacle and Solomon's temple. Even with the rebuilding of the temple the timbers were arranged for from the King's Woodcutters prior to the rebuilding.

In Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter of the New Testament, the writer lists a bunch of people who step out in faith to do what God wants them to do. Almost without exception these men and women are moving out of their comfort zone through action. Not a building project is mentioned.

Stepping out in faith almost always comes done to an action of witness or of carrying God's will forward and expanding the Kingdom.

I have much to ponder on this. More later...

XBox

So I've taken a little grief from my friends since my post on playing Halo 3.

Not about the post.
About the fact that I have an XBox 360 at my age.

Simple reason: Its fun.

Complex reason: It connects me with my son off at college.

Last night we hooked up over the Internet (XBox Live) and played Gears of War together.
First time I have been able to do that. It was an absolute blast!
We played on my account and moved along pretty quick. It is a lot more fun playing with someone rather than playing a solo game.

Still had that sense of accomplishment that goes with moving along in the video games.
But I also had a good evening with my son who is off at college.

Well worth the investment for the game system.

Only one problem: He is quite a bit better than I am at this stuff.

I think that means that I will have to practice some more...

Meeting

So for the past thirty five years our small group has been meeting at the same restaurant at the same time on Tuesday mornings (no, I haven't been a member for that long).

We've missed a couple of days. They've closed for remodelling (twice) and every once in a while a holiday hits on a Tuesday. But other than that we've been in the same location every Tuesday that they've been open for a long time.

Except on Sunday, during the Super Bowl, there was a commercial stating that everyone gets a free Grand Slam on Tuesday at every Dennys in the country! How dare they! Don't they take us into account?

I can get my back up and get all upset but in the grand scheme of things this is a minor inconvenience. And of course the corporate marketing people don't take into account small groups that may be meeting in Dennys around the country.

But our Dennys did. They held a table for us. Some of the guys went past the 100 people waiting to eat and some did not. We'll pick up next week where with what we would have done otherwise.

So maybe God had other plans for us today. Or maybe His plans for other people crowded us out. It's OK.

Maybe one of these Tuesdays there will be a line of 100 people waiting at the door to join us in studying about Jesus Christ.

Something to consider...

Living Water: Forgiveness

Tomorrow at the Men's study we look at the third chapter of Living Water by Brother Yun: Forgiveness.

This book keeps driving me to my knees.

As I looked at the necessity of forgiving others for their injustices (real or imagined) against me, I came to the realization that I need to approach God for forgiveness for I often fall short. And there are others that I need to ask for forgiveness. This is the tough one to tackle.

Brother Yun points out that forgiveness takes one. Reconciliation takes two. I can forgive someone and they may not ever realize or acknowledge that they have hurt me. But I have to let go of the bitterness that I often want to hold on to and nurture. I can only do that if I really, truly forgive them.

"Unforgiveness would achieve only two things. First, it would harden
my heart and cause a root of bitterness to take hold and second, my
relationship with Jesus Christ would be damaged."

We seem to think that we have a special relationship with God. We do, but not in the way that we like to think. When we don't forgive we seem to be saying that: Everyone else should get what they deserve but I should get special grace.

That is the wrong way to think.

Forgiveness of others is an offer not a burden. In fact it releases us from the burden we carry around. Again, they may not even admit that they have done anything wrong. They may never know that we have forgiven them. But forgiveness turns them over to God and takes me out of the judgement business. Let God decide how He will deal with them.

Unforgiveness puts us in a spiritual prison. It sucks the joy out of our lives.

Forgiving someone else set us free.