What a weekend!

It is the Monday after the annual church dinner and sale.  I would have to say it was a great success.  We had so many people come for the turkey dinner that we ran out of food!  Don't worry...for those that came towards the end and didn't get fixins I've offered a free meal at our next church dinner!  The Sunday school kids did a great job singing and I think the sale itself went very well too.  Before I forget let me say thank you  once again to everyone who contributed to the wonderful day!  It would not have been such a great day without everyone's help!
I know a lot of people want to know how much money was raised, and I suppose that has a bearing on how successful the day was, but on the other hand I can say it was a success even if we broke even after all the expenses.  It is always good for the church family to come together and work towards a common goal.  It is always good to see new faces and some familiar faces you haven't seen in awhile.  Big events like this remind us that the church is alive and well and that the success of the event is secured simply by the fact that so many people attended and helped out.  It is so easy to get caught up in numbers and membership and budgets and the doom and gloom of the nightly news reports that days like yesterday are essential to our spiritual health.  Days were the church family joins together for a common good reminds us of all the good that surrounds us and reminds us of the wonderful and caring community that all of us are apart of.
Incidentally that's why being a part of and attending church is such a vital part of our spiritual life.  Being part of something bigger, and actually taking part in services, reminds us that we are not alone on this journey called life.  We are reminded that there are a great number of people who are on this journey called life with us, and that those people care about us and are willing to help out when called upon.  Being an active part of the church family reminds us that life isn't all about us either.  We are called to love God and to love neighbor.  Big events in the church life are great, but the "normal" Sundays are important too.  We all need to be reminded from time to time that God loves us, that there is a community that loves us, and that we are part of something much bigger!  Join us on Sunday and bring a friend...won't you?

Cracks & Fixes add Character

Outside my window this morning I'm watching a crew fix the potholes in the road.  It'll be nice when it's all done, but there is a lot of work that goes into it before they are finished.  This crew is actually grinding out the bad spots, cleaning them out, adding oil and then putting the asphalt back in and packing it nicely with a roller.  I'm not an asphalt expert but I have to imagine these fixes are going to last longer than just throwing some patch down and letting the cars pack it in.  You know the quick fix that gets all over the under carriage of your car!  The quick fix would be cheaper, quicker and easier but not as good.  It got me to wondering how often we go for the cheap fix in our lives instead of the good longer lasting one.
We have gotten used to instant feedback in our lives.  We want our news instantly, we want our promotions at work instantly, we want our kids to listen instantly, and we expect almost anything in our lives to happen right away and to our satisfaction.  We've become conditioned to not having to wait for anything, and if we do have to wait it's the end of the world!  I think we've forgotten the old saying that sometimes the good things in life are worth waiting for.  This instant gratification culture has also caused us to not spend too much time working on anything.  We have come to expect God to work on our time table and to give us what we want instantly too.  Am I right?
Just like the road outside my office we all have cracks and potholes and areas in our lives that need to be patched and fixed.  If we're honest with ourselves we can all find areas of our lives where God is working on us or we know God should be working on us.  The trouble is we are either too busy or too stubborn to let God work on the cracks.  If we identify them and let God work in us we get discouraged when it takes too long or it might become a little painful and we wish for the instant patch.  The trouble with the instant fix is that it doesn't hold as well and soon we're patching the hole again. What we have to do is let God do the work.  Sometimes the fix isn't pleasant and it isn't easy.  The fix takes some grinding, some cleaning out, and even some packing back in.  The process may not be easy, quick or very pleasant, but the process will be complete and the crack healed.  Am I taking the road analogy too far? I hope not.
The truth is that somethings take time.  None of us are perfect and God wants to work with us to make us better people and people who reflect His love more perfectly.  It's a process that takes time.  It's a process that we have to open ourselves up to and allow God to work through us.  WE might not like the cracks that God identifies, but I guarantee that if we allow God to fix those cracks we'll like the finished product even better.  So...let's help God identify the potholes we need fixed in our lives and then commit to allowing God to patch them with us.

Thunder! Na Na Na Nanna Na Na Thunder!

It's AC/DC for those that don't get the title.  So I'm sitting in my office this morning and I can see blue sky to the south and some pretty innocent clouds to the north.  Then I hear this sound...sounds like thunder I think, but it doesn't look like it could be thundering.  Sure enough, there's one dark cloud due west and it thunders a few times and drops a few huge rain drops.  Might be enough rain to keep me from mowing this afternoon, which isn't all that bad, but this one thunder cloud got me thinking.
How often do we let one bad cloud, one bad comment, one bad criticism, or just one bad thing ruin our whole day?  Or even worse if we set out to do something and we receive a little negative feedback we just give up.  How often does that happen?  Just like this morning.  I can see blue skies, and I know this cloud isn't going to cause a torrential downpour, yet it is tempting to let the little bit of rain ruin my plans of mowing.  I know full well the blue sky will prevail and I'll be able to mow just fine.  Okay, maybe I'm stretching a little here but seriously...how often do we focus too much on the negative in a situation?
Fred Craddock in his book Craddock Stories tells of a young pastor who was interviewing at a church and the vote to accept him as their past was 142 yes to 2 no's (or something close to that).  The pastor then spent the next couple of years trying to find out who the 2 no's were so he could change their minds and after that 2 year period the congregation voted 142-2 to fire him.  Moral of the story?  The new minister focused too much on the negative and ignored the positive.  It ruined a great opportunity for ministry.
I know I'm guilty of that.  I'll do something, it can be anything from a sermon to a new addition to worship to making a pie, and the vast majority of the feedback will be great but if I hear one negative thing I want to focus on that.  Why?  I know I can't please everyone and I also know that if I try I'll end up in the nut house so why do those negative comments have such a pull?
I'm not saying negative comments and constructive criticism are necessarily bad.  In fact, you can learn more in most cases from that type of feedback.  What I am saying is that letting that feedback ruin the whole day/experience for you and/or letting that negative feedback keep you from stepping out and trying something new is not good.
I wonder if sometimes we're looking for an excuse not to do something and we automatically jump to the negative.  We think of all the things that could go wrong and talk ourselves out of it.  We want to focus on the negative because we all want to be like 100% of the time so when what we aren't liked by everyone we feel bummed.  I guess I'm challenging myself, and you, to not focus on the negative.  Learn from the constructive criticism, but don't let one cloud ruin your whole day.  If that becomes the case then anytime you even think you might see a cloud you'll stay holed up in your house.  Remember, clouds produce rain which is good too.

The Sky is Falling....!

During our Group 3:16 meeting last Wednesday we talked about worry and fear and how neither one can add a single minute to our lives.  We looked at some of what Jesus has to say about fear and how he doesn't want our limited energy going into worry and fear because the vast majority of what we worry about never comes true.  I told the kids that it isn't possible to not worry at all, and God isn't telling us to stop worrying completely because that isn't possible.  What God wants us to do is to take our worries to Him and to talk to him about or fears and worries.  In doing so we'll let God help us with our fear and tap into the Spirit's vast power.  

After the big group we broke into smaller groups and I asked my group what their biggest fear was.  Want to guess at their response?  Nope, not grades, not girls, not pimples...Ebola.  Their biggest fear was contracting Ebola.  I told them their lives must be going pretty good if they're concerned with contracting a disease that is pretty hard to catch.  Then, and I don't know if this was helpful or not, I told them if they want to worry about a disease worry about influenza.  If we really need something to worry about, they say, worry about getting your flu shots. From 1976 through 2007, flu-related causes killed between 3,000 and 49,000 people in the U.S.  From CNN website.

The hysteria around Ebola continues to amaze me.  I feel for the families that have been stricken with this disease, but the level of worry and speculation and downright hysteria that has come with this disease amazes me.  I wonder why.  Why do we jump to such hysteria?  Why do we spend any time worrying about a disease that many, if not all, of us will never deal with.  I understand it's possible, and by possible I mean in the same ballpark as the Vikings winning a Superbowl possible, the disease could mutate and things could get much worse.  Heck any disease I suppose could mutate and we could all be infected, but is that something to worry about?  Can we do anything to control it?

Fear comes from misunderstanding and not understanding something.  We fear what we don't understand and unfortunately that fear generally leads to dumb decisions and anger.  When we let fear control our lives we are demonstrating that we truly don't trust God.  If we live in fear then we don't truly believe that God is in control.  As I said above we can't not worry completely, and we can't live without any fear.  What we can do is not allow that worry and fear to rule our lives.  We can talk to God about our fear and let God work through us to help us address that fear and work through it.  Don't let worry and fear keep you from experiencing God.  

Nothing to see here

Our confirmation class just went over the story of Noah and the flood.  As part of the learning I had the kids listen to a narrative version of the story and right down thoughts, questions,  and insights they had as the heard to story.  As usual they had some good ones.  Of course the obvious question was, "why?"  Why did God kill everyone and everything?  Taping into my vast knowledge of the Bible I responded with, "why do you think God did it?"  They had some good responses, but what I like the most was when we looked at characteristics of God in the story.  I asked them to tell me some traits God displayed...anger, frustration, sadness...compassion.  Huh, God kills everything on earth except Noah's family and a 2 animals of every kind and we call that compassion?  That's like burning an ant colony and leaving one or two to start over.  Doesn't sound like compassion to me.  

Well it is compassion if you consider that God could have just obliterated everyone and everything and started over completely.  God gave us a second chance.  Of course we talked about this story being literally true and the possibility it is simply a story to give us a better idea of the way God works and how God wants us to live.  Either way we are to find out what God wants us to learn from this story.  "Don't make him angry," was one response I liked.  But we tended to focus more on the compassionate side of God allowing a way out and promising never to destroy the earth again with a flood.  

Then I asked the tough question, "Is it much different today as it was back when the flood happened?  Are we as a human race doing much better?"  What do you think?  Hard to imagine people were treating each other worse back in the days of Noah.  So why doesn't God just wipe us out again and start over?  Maybe because he promised not to, maybe because He continues to work through us to make us better people, maybe because God doesn't have the energy to start over again.  The truth is we don't know the mind of God, but what we do know is that God has provided a way for us to be in direct relationship with Him and that's through Jesus.  The death and resurrection of Jesus shows us all just how much God loves us, and it is because God loves us that much we should be working to spread that love to everyone.  We were created in God's image and we have that ability to share a glimpse of God with everyone and anyone.  The question is are we willing to do it?  God gives us all kinds of chances to get it right.  Will we grasp one of those chances and let others too?  Let's hope so!

Why am I fat?

Wow!  Talk about an eye catching headline.  I've been doing some reading on the internet and it seems that news organizations will sensationalize a headline just so you'll click on it.  Hold the phone!  Things on the internet may not be what they seem?!?!  Websites may use some hyperbole to get you to click on an article!?!  I hope you sensed the sarcasm, and I'll also confess this article isn't going to reveal why I'm fat or even if I think I'm fat.  I simply couldn't ignore a chance to put a sensational headline out there and see if it drew you in.  So if you're reading this I apologize for the deception and please continue reading.

Why do we as humans put off doing what we know is good for us unless we see immediate rewards for doing so?  I think we can all agree that eating healthy and exercising will help us live a better life, but a lot of times the rewards of such a lifestyle aren't immediately felt and consequently the adverse effects of not eating right and not exercising aren't immediately evident either.  Without the instant gratification we tend not to want to put the effort in for the long haul pay off...right.  Diet and exercise are a great example.  A thought...if eating right and being in shape were so important then why did God make all the bad for us food taste so darn good and exercising a pain in the butt?!  We all know that losing weight and keeping it off is much harder than gaining weight...well I shouldn't generalize maybe we all don't know that immutable fact but I sure do.  I know that down the line I'm going to pay for a bad diet and lack of exercise, but I feel pretty good now so there's little motivation to change...does that sound familiar?  No immediate gratification so change and dedication is hard.  I got to thinking...

Does our spiritual life reflect that belief too?  We don't see an immediate pay off for attending church, getting our kids up and to Sunday school, spending time alone with God, and working on our relationship with God.  Oh sure we might feel a tingling of the Spirit if we pray or do read Scripture or make it to a worship service, but any reward after that isn't too immediate.  Just like diet and exercise it takes discipline to keep at it and the more we keep at it the more we enjoy the positive aspects...especially down the line.  I'm not saying there are not immediate rewards for working on our relationship with God and with other people, but generally they aren't real obvious right away.  I also wonder if we think about the consequence of not nurturing our relationship with God when our time comes at the end of our life.  Yup...I'm talking about heaven and hell.  Do you think we can just float through life with just a little effort invested in what is supposed to be our most important relationship and then when we meet face to face God will just forgive us and say, "job well done my good and faithful servant?"

I don't know.  I don't worry about who's in and who's out because that is up to God.  And I truly don't believe in threatening people with hell if they don't follow God.  Besides, I'm not even real clear on my own theology surrounding heaven and hell.  I do know that just as much as we like to talk about grace and forgiveness we need to think a little bit about judgment and justice too.  I also know we need work at strengthening our relationship with God for as long as we're alive.  Besides the possible big benefit at the end, we can experience all kinds of blessings during our life that we'd missed out on if we ignored that relationship and didn't nourish it.  It isn't rocket science as to what it takes...attending worship to connect with other like minded people and to be challenged and comforted in our faith walk, praying, and reading scripture and generally just spending more time with God whenever we can.  I can't promise immediate gratification, but I can promise if we are disciplined and we can work on improving our relationship with God then we will experience more joy and fulfillment in this life then if we didn't have that relationship and the end will sort itself out at the end.  I guess as always the question is about discipline and where our priorities are.

Hot...It's just hot..and an ice bucket!

I saw a post on Facebook the other day that mentioned just because summer started 2 months late doesn't mean it has to hang on for 2 extra months.  I hate to say it but give me the cold weather.  I'll take it over the skin melting heat any day!  But, maybe that's just the Minnesotan in me speaking.
I have to admit that with a title like the one on this blog and the heat outside I was tempted to do something along the lines of a hell fire and brimstone blog..."you think it's hot here wait until you feel hell!" or something along those lines, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  I want to talk about me today so I hope you're okay with that.
I don't know if you've heard about or seen this little thing called the ice bucket challenge going around.  If you haven't then I have to ask, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!  In all seriousness if you haven't heard about the ice bucket challenge visit the ALS website and read about all the money that's been raised for ALS research.  I have to admit I've taken part in the challenge and yes my family has donated to ALS.  But before last night I was very much a cynic when it came to this challenge.
I would watch the ice buckets being dropped on people's heads and then hear the challenges and I kept wondering if people even truly understood what they were doing.  Did they even know what ALS was?  Did they even donate to the cause or did they simply relish the chance to put a video of themselves on the internet?  Let's just say I wasn't a fan and my cynical side was growing stronger with every video I witnessed.  There are so many other good causes....why do you need water dumped on your head before you'll donate to a charity...why are you wasting perfectly good water?  Could I increase the donations to my church by 1000% if I started a cold pop challange?  Guzzle 12 ounces of your favorite soda pop and then burp out the next three people you challenge and donate to Minden UCC.  Hey, don't steal that idea!  Back from the aside, all good questions and all good reasons for me to keep being cynical...or so I thought.
Well yesterday afternoon my fantastic brother-in-law and his boys challenged me and my boys to do the challenge.  Alex was immediately excited and Isaac needed some time to come around to the idea of getting water dumped on his head.  Of course I was against the whole thing in the very beginning.  I don't like being peer pressured into doing anything, and besides if I want to donate to ALS research I'll do it while I'm perfectly dry thank you.  But, as the boys' excitement grew I saw a chance for a teaching moment.  Before we risked pneumonia I asked the boys why we were doing this?  And then took the time to explain to them that we were raising funds for a terrible disease that science hasn't been able to find a cure or even treatment for.  I told them that we'd do the challenge, and then we'd decide how much they wanted to give to help fund research for the disease.  I actually saw a light come on in their heads when we talked about the devastating nature of ALS and how fortunate we are not to be touched by the disease yet.  Of course they had all kinds of questions as to how you catch it and stuff and it proved to be a great chance to help out a good cause and to remind me and my family how truly blessed we are.
So, my cynical side took a hit yesterday.  I still think the ice bucket challenge is a little hokey, but it is doing great things for ALS research and it helped me bond a little more with the family and remind them, and me, just how much God has blessed us.  So I suppose in the end it was a good thing...just don't tell my cynical side!  No, let's begin the Soda Guzzle challenge and help out a small church in SW Iowa!

Excuses, Excuses...

There are a lot of excuses for not attending church. Can you imagine a dyed- in-the-wool sports fan giving reasons for giving up sports. Can you imagine a sports fan saying, "I'm not going to watch any more football in the fall, no more baseball in the summer, an no more basketball in the winter. I'm not going to attend those games. Forget it! I've had it all. I quit! I will never again attend sports.
 
Here are my 11 reasons:
- Every time I went, they asked for money.
- The people I sat next to were not friendly so I'm not going back.
- The seats were too hard and not comfortable at all.
- The coach never came to my house and visited me.
- The referees make decisions that I can't agree with so 'm not going back.
- The game sometimes went into overtime and I got home late, and I can't stand that!
- The music there wasn't my style of music.
- Games are always scheduled when I am busy. I want to be somewhere else.
- I suspect that I was sitting next to some hypocrites because they came just to see their friends and just sat there and talked the whole time and didn't even participate in the game.
- I was taken to too many games by my parents when I was growing up, and I'm getting away from that. 
- It is so crowded, I didn't have any elbow room and I had to park way out: no room for parking close in. I'm not going back.


In an effort to cover all excuses, one pastor (not sure who or where) came up with this solution.

NO EXCUSE SUNDAY: DEDICATED TO MISSING CHURCH ATTENDEES!
To make it possible for everyone to attend church this Sunday, we are going to have a special “No Excuse Sunday”: Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, “Sunday is my only day to sleep in.” There will be a special section with lounge chairs for those who feel that our pews are too hard. Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching TV late Saturday night. We will have steel helmets for those who say, “The roof would cave in if I ever came to church.” Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who say it is too hot. Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present. Relatives and friends will be in attendance for those who can’t go to church and cook dinner, too. We will distribute “Stamp Out Stewardship” buttons for those that feel the church is always asking for money. One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature. Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on Sunday. The sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who never have seen the church without them. We will provide hearing aids for those who can’t hear the preacher and cotton wool for those who think he’s too loud! Hope to see you there!


A couple of articles that I came across on the internet that I found thought provoking. I don't have much to add except a challenge I guess...what do you imagine God thinks about our excuses? Can we just casually be a fan all our lives and then when the day comes and we're face to face God will open his/her arms? What about judgment and justice? Does grace just cover it? And, all as long as you say you believe you're fine even though you never really made any sacrifices in your life in the effort to serve Jesus and God's kingdom? I have to tell you I'm starting to ask a lot of these questions and dwell on this...I don't have all the answers but I'm starting to think God requires more than good intentions. I'm not saying church attendance is the golden ticket, but corporate worship is an important way we connect with God, challenge ourselves, and learn about faith. Things that make you say hummmmm...

It's over...It's all over!

It is very hard to believe that our unofficial summer is almost over.  I know that officially summer doesn't end until sometime in September, but by all intents and purposes summer ends August 18th when school begins.  It seems like I just finished watching baseball and t-ball!  Yesterday was one of the rare Sundays we didn't have a lot going on so we took the opportunity to go for a walk/bike ride on the trails in Shelby.  After a treat at Casey's we went home and sat outside reading a book and watching the kids play with friends.  I don't think there is a better way to unwind and prepare for the "busy" season.  I was also reminded that we don't do that enough.
As I'm reflecting on my afternoon spent relaxing I'm also reminded of all the terrible things happening in the world around us.  First off I'm extremely grateful for the safety and freedom I have to be able to spend an afternoon doing as little as I want, and second I'm saddened by those that don't have that ability.  It doesn't take much time at all to watch or read some news and to start thinking that the world is falling to pieces.  From political gridlock at home here to planes being shot out of the sky in the Ukraine to schools being blown up in Gaza to natural disasters to you name it.  It seems like everything is falling apart around us doesn't it?  I've made it a point not to watch too much news unless Jon Stewart is on because he helps keep me sane!
Has God abandoned us to our own devices.  Is there no hope for the human race?  Are we reaping what we have sowed?  Is the second coming right around the corner?  I don't think so.  When I begin to think that things can't get much worse I remember an article I found once that listed all of the trouble people have lived through in the past.  The article broke down history into decades and then listed what happened.  Reading that article gives one some perspective...we've always lived in troubled times and we probably always will.  That's not to say the issues we face now aren't important, but they don't herald the end of the world.  I suppose what I'm trying to say is the world has always been screwed up and it probably always will be so we needn't worry to much.
Another good thing to remember is that no matter what happens God is in control.  God has a plan and God's plan is perfect.  Even though we may never fully understand God's plan, or even agree with it, it gives me, at least, a sense of peace knowing that through it all God is in control and one day it'll all work out.  No matter how loudly political foes scream at each other and no matter how nuts the rest of the world seems we can take heart in knowing there is a plan and the one in control of that plan knows a lot more than we do!  So what shall we do?  Have faith that things will work out and find ways to make a difference in our own little part of the world.  If we all did what we could in our own communities transformation wouldn't be far off.  We can't solve the worlds' problems on our own, but if we remain faithful and do what God calls us to do for our neighbors then we'll make our own little part of the world better and I believe that's all God asks.  So instead of burying your head in the sand, see how you can make a difference right in your own neighborhood.  And remember...God's got it!

Vacation is good!

What a great time we had on vacation.  We were able to spend some time with great friends and family.  It was the first time I had taken two Sundays in a row off and even though we were only gone ten days when we returned it felt like I had been gone forever.  We even survived a week with the sister-in-law and her 6 month old son!  He actually is a great baby and uncle's don't have to change diapers so all was grand.  Vacations are something that I think all of us need and probably don't get enough of.
One of the best things about vacations is they let you get away from the normal hectic routine of life and offer a chance to recharge and reset a little bit.  I don't think I knew how much I needed to get away and recharge until after I got back home and felt relaxed and rejuvenated.  Sometimes when you're in the rat race of life you don't realize the need to step back and step away for awhile until you get a chance to and enjoy it so much.  I know it's not realistic to be able to take multiple day vacations very often during the year, unless you're a pastor and only work one day a week, but I think it is vital to our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being to get away and break the routine once in awhile.
Even if we can't take days off we still need to find time to feed our souls and regenerate our batteries if you will.  How each of us goes about doing that is different for each person.  Hopefully all of us know what feeds us and what recharges our soul.  Whether it be reading a good book, watching silly TV shows, playing catch with the kids, having coffee with friends, meditating, praying or whatever, we need to be diligent about carving out space to enjoy those times.  Sometimes we get so busy with life that our blinders are on and all we can think about is keeping our head above water and getting to the next task.  Well, if you're anything like me when that happens for very long you aren't a very nice person to be around.  When I neglect to take care of myself I find myself being grumpy and a general stick in the mud.  When that happens I need to find time to break the routine even if it is for only 15 or 30 minutes.  I know I need to recharge or my family is going to tie me up for awhile.
I get into trouble because I tend to think that making time for myself is selfish.  I tend to think that I should be all about others and that any time I spend only on myself is taking away from others.  Well, there has to be a balance.  Yes we can't be all about ourselves, but we won't do anyone much good if we run ourselves raged trying to be all things for all people.  Taking time to slow down, recharge, rejuvenate, and take a vacation is not selfish.  In fact I'd say it is vital to our well being.  By taking care of ourselves we are better able to take care of others around us.  So I challenge you to find time to break the routine, get away even if it's 30 minutes locked in your bathroom reading a favorite book, so you can nourish your soul  and keep from being run silly in the rat race of life.

My sacrifice...? Surely you don't mean me!

I've been reading the book "not a fan." by Kyle Idleman and I'm not sure what to make of it.  The premise of the book is that many Christians are fans of Jesus.  Enthusiastic followers who admire what Jesus has done and what he can do to help them, but they aren't true followers.  Mr. Idleman would say that when the going gets tough or Jesus truly asks for a sacrifice or a change of life followers will do so and fans will fall away.  I guess if I boiled the book down to one sentence it might be this: if you want to consider yourself a true follower of Jesus then your life has to reflect some sort of sacrifice or real commitment to follow beyond lip service and rule following.  I can honestly say I like parts of the book and some parts I don't agree with, but it has gotten me thinking.
One question in particular was asked, "What have you sacrificed to follow Jesus?"  Huh...think about that question for a minute I'll wait.  Did you come up with something?  I know that question has stuck with me after reading it.  On one hand I don't want to think that Jesus may ask me to sacrifice something...money, job security, a friendship, my comfortable location in order to follow him more closely.  Frankly I like where I am in life and I may be resistant to change and or sacrifice.  On the other hand I do believe that our Christian walk has to involve some sort of sacrifice and there has to be some evidence that my life as a follower of Jesus is different.  How did you answer that question?  What is Jesus asking you to do?  Does it involve some sacrifice?  Are you willing to go there?  Not fun questions, but necessary ones.
I tend to gravitate to the stories of Jesus that talk about grace, unconditional love, and forgiveness.  I like hearing those because it comforts me to know Jesus offers all of those things.  I don't tend to spend enough time on the stories of Jesus challenging the power elite and religious authorities and where he offers challenges that seem to ask too much or make me uncomfortable.  I want to explain those stories away as Jesus talking to someone else and not me, but in fact Jesus is talking directly to me and to you.  I know all this talk about sacrifice and being challenged as to how you order and live your life can be uncomfortable, but they are a necessary balance.
I think we do ourselves an injustice, and limit Jesus' work in us, when we only focus on the "feel good" stories of Jesus.  Yes grace, forgiveness, and unconditional love are offered to us all the time, but Jesus also asks us for sacrifice and real action in our lives.  We have to offer Jesus more than just lip service and occasional worship.  Our faith can't be something we turn to once in awhile when we need some help through dark times.  Jesus does demand we give him our whole lives and do real work to further his message of unconditional love, forgiveness and grace.  I guess the question becomes what have you done in your life to show you are a follower of Jesus?  Are we willing to offer some real sacrifice in our lives?  Is Jesus important enough to us to place him as our greatest love and head of our whole lives?  All absolutely necessary questions and not necessarily fun ones to ask.

Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day, and what a great day it was.  A little boy was asked what the difference between Father's Day and Mother's Day was and he said you don't spend as much on the gift for dad!  That might be true for some, but I'm especially spoiled on Father's Day with my gifts...I have two with short blonde hair and one with slightly longer and darker colored hair.  The gift is they call me dad and husband and even after all of my screw ups they still tell me they love me every day.  Gifts don't come any better than that!

I've written on here, probably too many times, of how much I'm reminded of God's relationship with us when I sit back and observe my relationship with my boys.  Brace yourselves, because another reminder is coming your way.  I've been reading in the New Testament book of Ephesians, and in that book the author talks a lot about how we're supposed to act and reflect the image of Christ.  I can tell you that I wish I reflected the image of Christ more and that my boys reflected the image of me less!  How come they tend to pick up on the bad habits so quickly?  I can readily admit that I don't have a lot of patience for silly questions and not following directions (this lack of patience not one of my better qualities).  I had to stifle a giggle, or was it a tear, when I saw my oldest son reflecting that same quality when he was doing a project with his little brother.  It was like God had put up a mirror and I was looking at my interactions with Isaac sometimes.  Yikes...!  Do what I say boy not what I do!  Sometimes I wonder if God blessed me with these two boys to remind me of the things I need to work on in my own life.

I know God doesn't have any bad qualities that we can reflect, but I wonder if God shakes his head, as I do, when he sees his children not reflecting the image of Christ as they should.  I wonder if God says, "Do as I say and as I did through the life of Christ."  Is it easier to pick up and reflect the bad habits?  Is that why my kids seem to pick up on mine?  Or am I too quick to criticize and not quick enough to praise the good things I see?  I bet it's more of the latter...I don't praise them enough when they are taking after their mom and being little angels!

I wonder if we are like that with ourselves a little bit too.  I/We are very critical of ourselves.  We are very quick to point out all of our faults and the areas of our lives where we know we should be better.  Why aren't we as quick to highlight and emphasize the good qualities we have?  Is it because we've been raised not to brag about ourselves?  I bet if we took some time to emphasize our good qualities some of the not so good qualities would fade away a little bit.  I'm not saying we need to stop working on making ourselves better, but we need to stop being so hard on ourselves all of the time and acknowledge the good we do too.  I'm going to be better about doing that with my boys, and also with myself.  Will  you join me?

God and baseball?

Over the weekend Isaac played in his first baseball tournament in Woodbine.  It was an 8U tournament and the boys played some of their best baseball of the season.  Warning...warning...father brag alert...Isaac took second place in the home run derby missing out on a tie for first by a foot.  All in all it was a great day.  The tournament offered the boys their most competitive baseball environment yet and this also translated to moms and dads cheering on the sideline.  I think I have a small glimpse into how God might feel watching us from time to time.  Let me explain.
As I sat and watched Isaac and the boys play I so badly wanted them to do well and succeed.  I thought about the practices they've had and the previous games and hoped they'd learn from past experience and would play well on Saturday.  I also was hoping that my son would remember the endless talks from dad about enjoying the game, being a good sport, no "Isaac" face, and to try your best and don't focus on the mistakes.  All the while I know there's nothing I can do about it right at that instant.  He's going to perform as he's going to perform and I can only watch right now.  It is kind of a helpless feeling.  I can encourage him from the sidelines, although not nearly as loud as his mom,  and cheer him on, but ultimately it's up to him right?  During the game he and his teammates are on their own.
Do you suppose our relationship with God is much the same way?  I'm not sure God ever feels helpless, but does he shake his head when we make mistakes like I shake my head when Isaac makes mistakes or doesn't act perfectly as I expect. ;-)  Does God get as frustrated as coaches and fans when we make silly mistakes or the same mistakes over and over again?  Does God want to pull God's hair out when no matter how many times you've been told not to do something you go ahead and do it anyway?  Does God want to throw in the towel when we ignore clear instructions that we've been taught and read in his word as I do when Isaac doesn't listen?  I sometimes imagine God as the big parent who wonders why his kids don't just ask for direction instead of blindly trying to find their way on their own.
God has to feel like a parent on the sideline of a game as he watches us go through life.  God hurts when we make mistakes, God shakes God's head when we don't ask for guidance or ignore what we've been told, and I imagine God might get a little angry when we clearly go against his will especially when we know better.  Is it any wonder when we get a cosmic spanking once in awhile to wake us from our unruly ways?  We have the perfect parent and all the instructions we need in order to live the fullest life we can, but like kids we think we know better and that we don't need help.  Maybe we should take our own advice and listen to God and stop thinking we know what's best for us.

Volleyball and Friends

Yesterday I was reminded again how much sand, sun and friends go so well together.  The Buck Snort in Neola held a sand volleyball tournament to benefit Jason and Kaylee.  Tracy organized two teams of our friends to play and after church we headed over for some good old fashioned embarrassment.  There ended up being 12 teams and to put it nicely I believe we raised the average age a little bit...yeah just a little bit.  Never mind the fact most of us haven't played competitive volleyball for a few years...if ever.  Oh well, none of that mattered because we weren't there to win; we were there to help raise some money for the Schneckloth's and to have some fun with friends.  I would say the afternoon was a success because I'm not judging success on wins and losses.  No one pulled a hammy or tore an Achilles's, and it was a fun afternoon with friends with some beautiful weather.
Sometimes I'm amazed at the way God works in my life.  I'm amazed that Tracy still agreed to go on that first date with me after the "coach" comment during one of our league volleyball games so many years ago.  I'm amazed at the church family, friends, school and community that God has lead us to and I could continue with the list but you'll get bored.  I was amazed by God yesterday, and reminded how blessed my family is by our friends, because of how my sermon about prayer and relationship tied into the afternoon of fun and frivolity with friends.  Relationships are important...obviously.  The relationship with your significant other, your family, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors and maybe most importantly your God.  Relationships are what sustain you through the bad times and carry you through the wave of good times, and if we neglect those relationships then they won't be as strong when we truly need them.
My sermon on Sunday was on a familiar topic...prayer.  We looked at the 17th chapter of John and Jesus' prayer for his disciples and us.  I talked about the power of knowing that Jesus, or savior and creator of the universe, prays for us and intercedes for us on our behalf before God.  Just stop and think about that...Jesus prayed for and is praying for you, yes you.  How does that knowledge change how we view ourselves or how we pray ourselves?  Prayer is one of the primary ways we can strengthen our relationship with God.  Prayer isn't all about bringing our list to God and hoping God fulfills our wishes.  Prayer is mostly about tuning our minds, hearts, and souls to God's will and strengthening our relationship with God so our faith grows and we know the mind of God better.  Just like our earthly relationships need work and time with the other to grow our relationship with God needs the same tender loving care.  The big difference is that unlike earthly relationships God's love and care and forgiveness never wavers or falters.  Have you prayed today?  Have you given some effort towards a relationship that needs work in your life?