Here and Now

Michael wrote on his blog the other day that he was at college building nets. I guess he means safety nets. You know, get the training, the networking going so that you can have some kind of security in the future. Get the education so that you can make sure you get a good job and have security in your future. I talk to a lot of people - a lot of Christian people - who have more faith in their pensions and bank accounts than they have in God. They get the reports, the juggle "should I put in more, should I move this to a better fund..." whatever... They want to make sure that they can provide for themselves in the future... Now, I have nothing against pensions - I have one, thank you very much... But I don't know how much is in it - I don't know if it will "be enough" to provide for us when we are old(er...heh). But I know one thing - we're going to be in the hands of the One who has more than enough to provide our every need... If life is a highw

I love Christmas – for, perhaps, all the wrong reasons... I love the joy, the love, the sounds, the smells (mmmm...except fruitcake...yuk), the whole package. But I was thinking this morning about how strange all of our traditions and celebrations really are when you think about it. Christmas is our celebration of the birth of Jesus – our Savior. So, I get the gift giving, and I understand the worship services and I guess the families-getting-together stuff all makes sense... But in Jesus’ birth, God was doing something absolutely revolutionary – something absolutely unique in the history of all time. God Himself coming to be a part of His creation, coming to reveal Himself to that creation in a completely new way, coming to die as an atoning sacrifice for that creation. This is something really powerful. It makes the bows and the gift certificates seem so...trivial, doesn’t it? Before you write me off as anti-Christmas, let me reiterate I love virtually everything about our mode

I just helped repair Ladonna's bicycle. I love Ladonna - most people don't. But I do. Let me explain: Ladonna is a bit of misfit here at First - which is a rich, white, uppity, formal, self-conscious congregation (okay, that might be a little harsh - but only a little). Ladonna is...well, none of those things. I'm not sure what makes Ladonna different - but she is. She has some of the innocence of a 7 year old, she's almost certainly way smarter than I am, she reads voraciously (some really good stuff, too), but her thought processes are sometimes a mystery to me. She loves to give. She rides her bicycle all over town - with shopping bags on the handlbars and the seat (to keep them dry) and a big basket in the back to carry...well, I don't know what, but she's got a lot of stuff in there. Most people tolerate Ladonna - a few people hold her in open contempt - but I don't think she knows or cares. That's part of what I love about her. Sometimes I

I lost my glasses Sunday night. [I posted some UN-graceful things here that I need to retract anc repent...and I will...] Anyway, now that I got that off my chest. I can't find my glasses. I can still see pretty well without them - gives me a headache, but I can read, drive, whatever just fine without them. My eyes just have to work harder, that's all. Really, it's my right eye. I think my left eye is just about normal. With my right eye alone, things are kind of fuzzy - but not unreadable. Just a little out of focus. I think there's a lot of that in the church. I don't think that most people have a greatly distorted view of Jesus, I think that they just can't see Him all that clearly. It's just a little off. I know that's true for me. Sometimes I'm sooooo sure that I have a handle on this whole being a Christian thing - but then I realize that if I squint just a little more, though it might give me a headache, I can see that I was a little bit wron

Failing. I just talked to a mom who's son is a senior in High School and he's failing some classes. He's capable - good grades in the past - but he has lost something - the drive? The will? Hope? Dunno. I don't really know the kid all that well - he doesn't go to this church's youth group - but this mom is really worried because he seems to be failing in his relationship with God, too. So, I'm in chapel at the Christian School again where I lead worship. Where I had failed. I couldn't remember how "In the Secret" started - messed up the melody (fortunately, enough people know that song that they picked it up) then right toward the end I broke a string - the A string - which means that fretting chords becomes weird - and the whole guitar goes out of tune slightly...argh. And the whole "mood" of worship was...discomfort. But I push on. And go to practice with the High School praise team before their chapel service and we can't reall

I happened on this website - The Church You Know ( http://www.thechurchyouknow.com/index.html ) a take off on the NBC commercials The More You Know. I really agree with what these guys are saying (for the most part) and what they're doing. They claim to really love the church - but want to point out some of the stupid, unbelievable, or just plain hypocritical things we do in a somewhat clever way. I might use the worship one in church sometime (if I can get a good copy of it - dunno if they sell them). Reforming the church can only come from within. These guys are doing what Luther did at Wittenburg. It's a call to reform. I get so tired of people who bail on a church because it doesn't meet their expectations - but they're not willing to put the effort and energy into making transformation happen. I look at the task that Jesus (who, by the way is GOD) faced in transforming the Jewish religion. Acts 1:15 says that shortly after Jesus' ascension the number of b