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...