31 December 2007

Will Smith's comment on Hilter grossly mishandled

So if you haven't been following the news, the self-appointed thought police in the media are all over actor Will Smith's comments about Adolph Hitler. Smith mused to a Scottish reporter that he (Smith) didn't think that Adolph Hitler intentionally tried to be the most heinous person in 20th century history. Smith suggested Hitler probably thought he (Hitler) was actually doing "good." This comment suggests that Hitler was somewhat deluded in his ideology, and any serious student of history and of the man would probably agree.

What's interesting is that instead of debating the deeper issue Smith's comments raised: whether man is innately good or evil, and whether we are truly conscious all the time of what we believe, why we believe it, and what its impact is on those around us.

No. Instead, the media are all over that fact that Smith, a reasonably intelligent man, would "dare to even talk about Hitler." I guess there are certain events and people of history that we can't even discuss in scholarly debate! That's pretty sad.

12 November 2007

Now here's a thought

I was chatting with one of the participants in our current Alpha course about the church and some of my frustrations after being here three years.

He said something that struck me as divinely appointed for me. He said, "Perhaps the things that you're frustrated with are the things God wants to use you to change--over time."

Change comes much slower in the North Country, but it does happen. I've had to learn to be patient. Some of the things I wanted to get going when I first got here are just now happening. That's good.

But I confess impatience at the other stuff. This man's comment puts things in a new light.

29 October 2007

Red Sox Nation celebrates!!!

Again, it has been a joy to cheer the BoSox in Red Sox Nation. They win the series 4-0!

19 October 2007

Ministry belongs to everyone

I've been thinking about ministry as I prepare for our upcoming Quarterly business meeting. It's been said ('cause it's true) that God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called. And while I've always assented to that truth, I had a thought the other day that opened this whole thing up for me.

If God qualifies the called, we can never really say, "I don't think I could do that." Or, "I'm really not into that sort of thing." Nor can we excuse ourselves for not having the necessary skill set. The reason is that if God does the qualifying, we shouldn't presume we know what the required skills are. And the reason God doesn't call those of us who appear qualified from our perspective is that when we succeed, we can't say, "Gee thanks, but I do that all the time." That's called doing it in our own strength.

If I say, "I'm just not wired to do that," we may well speak the truth, but that doesn't let us off the hook. Moses had a bad temper and was not an eloquent public speaker, yet God called him to appear several times before the leader of the Egyptian empire, and to lead the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land (and as Lincoln Brewster observes) without a PA system!

David's Biblical epitaph reads: "He was a man after God's own heart." Yet David was a mercenary, an adulterer and a murderer. Solomon couldn't keep his eyes on one wife. Noah was a drunkard and he was called to save the world! (Could this have implications for the TV show, Heroes?)

So if I approach someone whom I've prayerfully considered for ministry in some capacity and that person responds "I don't know if that's my thing," I wonder if I shouldn't strongly encourage the person to do it anyway. Just to make sure it indeed isn't his or her thing. After all, God may actually do something extraordinary through them.

Wouldn't it be nice if every time we prayed about a ministry position, and God gave us a name, that when we approached that person, he or she would say, "I was hoping God would use me somehow. Now I know where He wants me."

Like I said, its' just a thought.

07 October 2007

No church Sunday. This is weird!

If you notice the timestamp on this post, you'll note it;s Sunday morning, and you may wonder, "Why isn't he in church? He's a pastor!"

We closed the church today for Faith In Action Sunday. We've encouraged our people to go out today and serve their community or neighbors is some small tangible way. The premise being the church doesn't exist for us. It exists to serve others. That's what Jesus meant by we are "salt and light." And we said that what we do doesn't have to be big.

So we're going to try and visit my wife's boss's father who lives in town and likely doesn't get any visitors other than family. He may say No, but we're going to try. We're also going down to the new cafe in town and hobnob with some of the townsfolk. That's something I'll likely touch on in another post.

10 September 2007

I'm feeling the blues...

Two posts in one days. Whew!

Your Brain is Blue

Of all the brain types, yours is the most mellow.
You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles.
Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are.

You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

On reading

You may have noticed my current reading list hasn't changed for a while. I did too.

Since mid-July, I haven't completed any of the books I listed there, with vacations and such. Probably an excuse. But we camp on vacations, and this year we spent those trips going to various tourist attractions. We did this because we could get for free. One of the perks of working for a tourist attraction (wife and two daughters), is we receive comp admissions for many of the other attractions. This is so the employees can intelligently talk about other attractions to tourists.

I just like the free part.

04 September 2007

Post camping musing

We camped this Labor Day weekend, and Sunday after church we took the tramway to the top of Cannon Mountain. From there we could see four other peaks--all above 4000 feet: Mt. Lafayette, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Liberty, and one I can't remember the name to off-hand. The view was incredibly clear: we could see the entire Franconia Notch from the observation tower atop the peak. A very awe-inspiring experience.

The other note on the weekend is sadder. When we checked into the campsite, we noted eight ducklings in the duck pond. By Monday morning they were all gone, victims of a blue heron that apparently has been stalking them since they were still in eggs. The owner of the campgrounds said he needed to figure out what would keep the egret away, without scaring off the ducks as well. But we missed the eight yellow fuzzballs paddling after their mother.

26 August 2007

Post-birthday musings

This will be short, since we returned today from a long camping weekend and I'm bushed from all the walking. The campground was one of the larger ones we've stayed at, and our site was on the opposite side from the camp office and the pool. With the recent bad news I got regarding my health (cholesterol is sky-high), the walking was certainly in order. Today, after we returned home and dropped off all the camping gear, we trekked to the Polar Caves and climbed around through those for the afternoon. I completely forgot I was a year older yesterday, until I started to rise after supper. My leg and hip muscles are screaming at me now! Where's that Advil?

20 August 2007

Thoughts on technology and our puny brains

I was thinking about how the average person uses 3-4% of his or her brain capacity. A genius, like Albert Einstein, uses between 6-9% of brain capacity. Yet with that average "incompetence" we've learned to build, houses, high-rise apartments, skyscrapers suitable for over-sized apes to climb, ships, airplanes, and rockets. We've placed men on the moon, and crashed probes into Mars.We launch telescopes into space to extend our reach into the universe and obtain some astounding images from the far-reaches of space. And then there's stuff in the other direction: at the microscopic level, and at the atomic and sub-atomic level.

All this got me thinking that much of what we do technologically enables us to go faster, further, higher, deeper, whatever, than would be possible by natural means. Then I wondered: is this what the world was meant to support? Was this what God had in mind when he told Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth"? Image what Adam and Eve could have done with their perfect brain capacities if they hadn't mucked things up!

And finally, if it wasn't for technology, you wouldn't be reading these random thoughts of mine until after I'd convinced a book publisher they were worth the paper and expense. And after you'd bought the thing, and actually cracked the cover and...

13 August 2007

Blogging & FaceBook

Since my last post, I have established myself on Facebook, yet another web-based tool to stay i touch with folks. This blog is fine...when I keep it up. But it's more of me blathering about whatever crosses my mind, and you the reader have to endure my words, or click somewhere else.
Facebook, however, let's me stay in touch with friends with a two-way conversation. When they update or change something on their Facebook profile, I get an email. And vice versa. What's even better is that only those people who are "friends" can see my information. Unlike this blog. Which is why I keep the blog as well as the Facebook account. I get to continue to blather and still keep my friends!
* * * * *
The worship band that serves ConnecTion (our monthly, mid-week worship service) played at what was supposed to be an inter-church picnic at the town park yesterday. But the majority of the people who came were from our church. We still put on about two hours of music from the gazebo and attracted a few strangers who wandered over to check out what was going on. It was a fun afternoon.

Yesterday morning, I held an orientation session for anyone interested in joining the ConnecTion ministry team. No one showed. I'm not sure what that means, except that we're mid-August and many were away. Only one team member showed up and we kicked around some ideas for keeping ConnecTion fresh. This person's unsaved, self-proclaimed atheist boss attended last week' service and he had some insightful observations for us:
  • He said it was the best church service he'd ever been to, but it was still too much like a church service.
  • He commented that he didn't feel like a participant because he didn't fully understand what was going on
  • Said the congregation members who raised their hands put him off, and he wasn't at all sure what was expected of him.
  • The open prayer time "nerved him out" (don't you just love vernacular?)
  • Enjoyed the speaker's frank testimony about his struggle with alcohol and was impressed that no one judged him for it.
These comments indicate we still have a lot of work to do to reach our objective to reduce or eliminate the barriers for people to hear the gospel. There is still a lot we do that is "insider" stuff. And this is in a service we're consciously trying to plan from an unchurched person's perspective! I wonder about the barriers during Sunday morning services, which admittedly presume everyone is a Christian.

08 July 2007

Time flies, don't it?

I realized this morning that three years ago this weekend we first visited Littleton. Seems so long ago.

04 July 2007

The Nerd test

Saw this on a friend's blog, so I had to check it out. Does that make me a nerd? :)


I am nerdier than 55% of all people. Are you a nerd? Click here to find out!

28 June 2007

Status report

I'm almost two-thirds of the way through David Murrow's book, Why Men Hate Going to Church. It's a fascinating companion to John Edridge's Wild at Heart. There's a lot to think about. Murrow spends some time wading through statistics to validate his premise that men don't attend church--much less participate in ministry work--as much as women. Though the pastorate may remain a men's club, everything else is dominated by women. I'm currently working through the section of the book that deals with some of the particular things men struggle with in the church.

This book should be required reading for every church leader. And every woman.

27 June 2007

You never know how God will use you

The morning hasn't ended, and I've had the opportunity to be a blessing to someone today. At least I hope so. A young man from the church came into the office, and mentioned he needed help with a cover letter. I asked, "Why?" He said he was just laid off. Rats, I said.

Since I have lived through two layoffs myself, which connotes to several hundred letters over the years, I said I could help. So we massaged his cover letter: tweaked the basic structure, fleshed it out. Offered some layout suggestions for the resume. And gave him some stationery stock I have left over from the last layoff go-round. (It's a nice mute gray marbled paper. Looks nice.)

It's just neat that I got to help him.

25 June 2007

It's officially summer!

Celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary Wednesday. It's been a long hard year for us, given some of the stuff we've had to deal with. But things will get better we hope.
*****
I recently completed Dan Kimball's book, They Like Jesus, They Just Don't Like the Church. Three years of conversations and research with non-Christians and their take on organized Christianity are baked into this book.

In the first part of the book, Kimball outlines the characteristics of the emerging generation, which the church is very quickly losing in practically every way. In the second part of the book, Kimball shares how non-Christian "emergents" perceive the church. Some of these perceptions are well deserved; others are based on erroneous conclusions.

The chapter dealing with the church's stance on homosexuality ("The church is homophobic") proved particularly enlightening. I've struggled with how to relate to folks who pursue this lifestyle. How does on "love the sinner, but hate the sin." Which is NOT a biblical command, by the way. The only thing I find in the Bible is "Love the sinner." Anyway.

Kimball draws a distinction between someone being attracted to someone of the same gender and someone who acts on that attraction. This makes the attraction no different (from the sin perspective) as someone who lusts for a married woman, or an unmarried couple who insists on living together. It's not the attraction that connotes the sin; it's the behavior that follows.
*****
After two and a half years, I finally have internet access in my office. I installed a router and ran the Ethernet cable myself. This means I don't have to battle four other people for access to the office PC. Yay! This also means I can hopefully keep this blog a little more current. Now wouldn't that be nice?

20 May 2007

Postal rates go up Monday

I don't understand why postal rates are going up. Our government runs a virtual monopoly on the delivery of first-class mail, and apparently has enough money to actually advertise it's "services." When I was a Boy Scout working on my Citizenship merit badges, I learned that government should use it's funds wisely and should not take too much from its citizens. It's their money, after all, not the government's.

So why am I regularly receiving four-color glossy post cards and other flyers for our US Postal Service touting its non-first-class services? And then it charges me for the privilege of receiving its junk mail?!

17 May 2007

Good visit

After eight years, my Dad visited us a couple of weekends ago. We weren't sure what to expect, but in ended up a good visit, and we regreted his departure.

Local politics in a small town are extremely frustrating. Last year our town endured the petty tantrums of a group of citizens who claimed to speak for the rest of us. They've cost the town over $10,000 in leagl fees. Now two of the culprits are selectmen. I shudder to think what we're in for now!

Tha only thing worse I can think of is if Hilary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination!

25 April 2007

How to waste time

When I started up here at the church over two years ago, I started doing little things to see if people liked them. They did, so I kept doing them. And that has become the problem.

I kept doing them. Instead of moving these things of my plate as quickly as possible, I took the ownership of them too seriously. And as theses various "small" things multiplied, they started eating up more of my weekly time.

So, I'm divesting myself of anything that I specifically don't have to do. That will free mw up to do more of what I really want to do.

The recent introduction of a third worship service (monthly for now) has been a success story. I've been working with a team of people who wanted to do this, and I am already working to transition my planning role to the team. Now I just have to figure out how to do that in other areas.

18 April 2007

Two guys from church came over this afternoon and helped me remove the fallen tree next to the house. It came down, but not quite how we'd hoped it would. Fortunately, no windows were broken, just some loose paint "scraped" from the clapboard siding.

My daughter came home from her ethics class all "hot and bothered" because the topic of the day was abortion. Apparently, one person i nthe class was very vocal in her opposition to anyone in the class who did not support the practice. And the professor kept challenging anyone who cited religious beliefs to justify their position without using religion.

This is another example of the delusion of our culture that continues to believe we can lobotomize ourselves, effectively separating out mind and souls. The other problem with this trend is that it always places intellect above religion (aka spiritual) matters. The human mind becomes the measure. If we can't understand it or rationalize it, it is not worthy of consideration.

17 April 2007

A smattering of observations

Filed our tax return two weeks ago. We actually get a refund this year (been several years since that happened). I guess there's one benefit to getting paid half what I used to get in the corporate world. 'Course the refund will maybe cover our cable bill, but any accountant will tell us we made out perfectly: not owing and not getting too much back so Uncle Sam hasn't had free use of our hard-earned dough.

Nor'easter blew through over the weekend. Lost two trees. And we saw God's providence in it. Last fall I started clearing brush and trees but ran out of light and warm temperatures. I had to leave a tree trunk with no limbs for spring. Yesterday, a neighboring tree split and fell...right into the crook of the tree trunk I'd left. Otherwise we would hae lost at least two windows, and likely sustained damage to the siding of the house.

I had no idea why I left the truck: it would have taken me two more minutes to fell it, but I didn't. But God knoew that trunk had to be there yesterday.

21 March 2007

I satisfied my curiosity

I've known of Ann Coulter for some time, but after the recent flap about a comment she made (see March 5 post), I thought I'd grab one of her books and discover what her writing is like. Wow!

Her writing appears to be well researched...at least documented. And although she does get very sarcastic at times, Coulter does a good job of directing a spotlight on the absurdity of left-wing, liberal policies. Some of the quotes, if true and in their entirety, make some of our current legislators and presidential hopefuls look absolutely ridiculous.

BTW: the book I read? Treason.

05 March 2007

I guess I shouldn't be surprised

While killing time in the hospital ER waiting room (an elderly church member fell in his garage and whacked his head ans was getting checked out), I watched Fox News, which aired a spot on the "outrage" spawned by a remark by Ann Coulter. She apparently had the audacity to use a word that centuries ago referred to a bound bundle of firewood, and her comment was apparently taken out of its larger context to generate the "outrage" the news was now reporting.

The same segment contrasted the liberal left-wing brouhaha--which apparently originated with John Edwards' preseidential campaign committee which used the opportunity to kick-off a fundraiser for Edwards' campaign--with the stunning silence from these same camps regarding Bill Maher's alleged wish that someone assasinate Vice President Dick Cheney!

I checked several online news sites--CNN, MSNBC, USAToday, Washington Post--and none carried one word about Bill Maher's comment, but all except the Post carried at least one article that touted the apparent "universal outrage" with Ms. Coulter.

So it seems okay for Democrats to lob serious armament against the Republicans (free press and free speech is guaranteed by the Constitution, after all); but just let someone from the Republican camp toss a grenade that spotlights the absurdity of "politically correctness," watch out!

28 February 2007

Okay, so it's been a month...

I've been reading The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do, by Mark Attebery. Just finished Dumb Move #5: Hopping from Church to Church. The chapter reminded me of a conversation I recently had with a former attendee (never joined the church so I can't call the person a "member").

I can count on one hand the number of Sundays this person was in church in the last year. The couple recently decided to attend another church, admittedly closer to their denominational heritage, but the person remarked that one reason they left was because they "missed solid preaching on holiness and right Christian living."

I wanted to say, "If you'd showed up in church once in a while, you wouldn't miss it! And we've just finished a month-long series entitled 'Returning to Holiness.'" But I didn't. I just smiled, and wished them well.

They're a classic example of people who complain about not feeling connected. And they don't fell connected because they don't connect.

19 January 2007

Not really ministry related

This is now the third time I've stood in line at MacDonald's and noticed this...

Don't usually eat at Mickey Dees, but occasionally we like to get a shake or some fries. Tonight was a shake. While I was waiting I noticed the register display: "Avg svc time: 42 secs." So I watched the clock as the cashier filled the order for the couple in front of me. Three minutes. 180 seconds. Well, there went the average. So I was curious what would happen when I ordered my shake. From the time I was greeted to the time I received my shake, two minutes passed. 120 seconds. And the display read: "Avg svc time: 38 secs."

The last two times I was in MacDonald's, I waited seven and 10 minutes.

So this measurement has NOTHING to do with customer satisfaction or service. It DOES measure how efficient the cashier in getting the customer's money.

Next time I go in, I think I'll stutter and change my mind a few times and really messup their average. Or better yet, I'll go in with a stopwatch. Let them know I plan to check the accuracy of their published service times.

I'll probably have to wait an hour for my fries.

04 January 2007

Musings for the new year (a tad long...)

This is (mostly) what I wrote in my Annual Report for 2006. I deceided to try a different tack that the usual "what-I-did-this-year" treatment, which always sounds like I'm trying to justifiy my paycheck. This is an opportunity to share my heart with the congregation, so here's what I gave them. Hope you enjoy it.
* * * * *

Following Christ is anything but tidy and neat, balanced and orderly. Far from it.
—Mike Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality (p. 17)

Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion… ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.
—Mr. Beaver, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (p. 86)

One of the elders said to me: “Stop weeping! Behold the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome…”
—Revelation 5:5

Untamed. Wild. Messy. Unpredictable. Life is anything but ordered. More chaotic, truth be told. Some may suggest this is because of Adam and Eve’s sin, but I’m not so sure. We follow and serve a God who cannot be reduced to formulas, programs or convenient platitudes. God is the Lion of Judah. He’s not nice; but dangerous, to be feared. Worthy of respect. Worthy of honor. Worthy of our lives.

When the Pevensy children learn that Aslan is a lion, Lucy expresses disappointment he’s not human. They’d assumed he was human—like them. That way he could be understood. Studied, catalogued, packaged and distributed so others could also understand him. But that’s not Aslan, and that’s not God. Rick McKinley, in his wonderfully insightful book, This Beautiful Mess, comments that theology, the study of God, can only go take us so far. We risk knowing God in His parts, McKinley says, but missing God in His Being. Like Aslan, God, in His Being, is dangerous. But He is good.

I’m very comfortable with processes, procedures and lists. And much of what I’ve done in my lifetime can be defined by these. That’s not bad in itself. But if I allow them to limit how God can use me, then I become a liability and not an asset. If God can’t work through me unless He behaves according to my preferences and specifications—according to the proper procedures and processes I’ve carefully developed, then my ministry is worthless. And I’m discovering I do have such chinks in my spiritual armor.

This past year, I’ve learned that ministry occurs more often in the interruptions than in my careful plans. Oh, plans are good. And it’s been said that if you don’t define the target and shoot at it, you won’t hit anything. But God’s kingdom is messy and unpredictable. I know there were days I didn’t check off one item on the “to do” list. But God needed other things done. Bigger things; better because they were part of kingdom life. [You really need to read McKinley’s book.]

Another book I just finished, John Eldridge’s Wild At Heart, is a great discussion of what is means to be made in God’s image, male and female. Eldridge also challenges the Western church’s idea that godly men are nice and well-behaved. [Was Jesus being “nice” when He purged the temple? Or when He called the Pharisees stinking tombs that looked good on the outside?] I heartily recommend this and McKinley’s book for your 2007 reading list.

So what does all this mean for 2007? I can only guess. I hope to spend more time getting to know people, and I don’t mean just a year-long visitation program. A former pastor of mine once remarked, “The problem with the Church nowadays is that it’s full of nearly dead people who claim to follow Christ. But when someone comes along with a normal temperature—a passion and love for Jesus that can’t be bridled—he or she is branded as a heretic.”

I hope to develop such heretics this year. People who are learning that the God we serve is so much bigger, “badder,” and wilder—and good—than the God they know. People who are willing to follow Jesus where He leads them.

Jesus’ ministry on earth was ultimately about connecting with the people around Him. Mike Yaconelli says in Messy Spirituality, “Spirituality is not a formula, it is not a test. It is a relationship. Spirituality is not about competency; it is about intimacy. Spirituality is not about perfection; it’s about connection.” (p. 13)

May we all become more connected to and intimate with our God—the dangerous, untamed, unpredictable Lion and King—and with the people He loves so desperately and completely that He entered into their mess to walk along side them and help them through it. He does that through us.

That’s what the kingdom of heaven is all about.