Worst Sermon Ever

I'm sure every preacher has had the experience where a sermon that the preacher expects to be life-changing falls flat. I'm sure every preacher has had to deal with crickets when they intentionally left a pause for the laughter to subside. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has heard "nice sermon" after a tough, prophetic message. And I'm sure other preachers have written "the worst sermon ever" before. I have even had the experience where I have had a sermon all ready to go and God told me to preach something else (very rarely!). But something that has happened several times happened this week.

I wrote the worst sermon ever.

It was hard to write. I had a tough time concentrating on the text at hand. I had a hard time concentrating at all, to tell the truth. Sunday morning came around, and I wondered if God would suddenly give me an alternate text so I could bail on the sermon I had written. But God was "strangely" silent. So I delivered the sermon as written.

And it was just what the people needed.

Why should I be surprised? That's the way God seems to work - making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland, as He revealed in Isaiah 43:18-21 (which "just happened" to be the text I was preaching from). Why would God do this? To humble me, reminding me that it's not my words that inspire or change lives; it's His Word. Always.

Ten Things I Love...

There's an old joke that goes like this:

A mother went to wake her son for church one Sunday morning. When she knocked on his door, he said, "I'm not going!"

"Why not?" asked his mother.

"I'll give you two good reasons," he said. "One, they don't like me. Two, I don't like them."

His mother replied, "I'll give you two good reasons why YOU WILL go to church. One, you're 47 years old. Two, you're the pastor!" 

There are times when any of us "don't like the church" - even the pastor. When I was doing my internship at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY, senior minister Mike Breaux remarked that there were times when he didn't want to be pastor. He would dream about becoming a greenskeeper on a golf course. One day he approached Bob Russell, the senior minister of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville and asked him if he'd ever thought about that.

"No way!" Bob answered. After a pause, he said, "I wouldn't be a greeskeeper; I would manage a Dairy Queen!"

There are times when it's tough being a pastor - there are times when it's tough being a church member. Yet I love the church. Here are some reasons I love the church.

1. God loves the Church. He even goes so far as to call the Church the Bride of Christ. If God loves the church, I do, too! It's not cool to say, "I like Jesus, but I think His wife is a skank." 

2. I am constantly amazed by how people are growing in their faith.

3. It is great to be a part of something greater than myself. There are things that the Church does every day that I couldn't do at all by myself. An example is our "Christmas is not your birthday" offering, through which we gave over $2000 to the Hebron New Life Baby Pantry. I couldn't have done that, but the Church did. And that's just one small example.

4. People in the Church love my family. Families in the church give my kids Christmas presents just, not because they are "the pastor's kids" but just because they love my kids for who they are. When we take "extra" kids into our family, there are amazing people who step up to help my wife with them during services or to make sure our first girl has pink clothes to wear.

5. God believes in the Church. God believes that the Church can be the vehicle to carry His Word to the world, and I love that!

6. A diverse community comes together in unity. This can be hard to achieve, but I have seen it in action. When the focus is on Jesus Christ, all of the other stuff becomes extraneous. 

7. When we get together, it's celebration time! God doesn't only work on Sunday morning; God is continually at work. Therefore, when we get together once a week, we can celebrate what God is doing!

8. Praise with other people is greater than praise by myself. It is so wonderful to sing praises as I go running, but it's way better to join with others in singing, raising hands to the Lord. 

9. The Gates of Hell won't prevail against the Church! Isn't it awesome that Jesus gives humans this amazing power? We can storm the Gates of Hell, because Satan is powerless against us!

10. Jesus is here! He said where we gather together in unity, he will be there with us. Isn't this the picture of church! 

There are many, many more things I love about the Church, but I needed to limit it to 10 to make it a proper Top Ten list. What about you? What do you love about the Church?

2011 Family Retrospective

I have had several people tell me they were just ready for 2011 to be gone and to get the new start in 2012. It has been a difficult year for a lot of my friends, and it can be easy to focus on the negative. But something I heard today stuck with me; nobody has "proof" that positive thinking "works" but we know that negative thinking does.

So here are some highlights of the past year.

Early in February, I went to a conference in Minneapolis (you have to mean to go to a conference then and there - you don't get there by accident) and ended up getting snowed in and staying a little later than planned (thanks, Joel, Shay, and Juju (and don't forget Jake) for letting me crash at their place!) I went running there - outside, of course, in the -8* windchill... those northerners are tough!

Of course, less than a month later, my family got the opportunity to go on a cruise. We had never done it before but the price was right and the destination (western Caribbean) was perfect. I had to ask what one must do to be appointed the pastor of the Antigua Methodist Church! ;-) One of my highlights was snorkeling. That was a blast! We didn't even mind being "stuck" on the ship, and I was the only one who ever felt seasick. Running around the little track while the ship was moving was somewhat adventurous!

In the Spring, Jonathan continued to play soccer, and I was one of his coaches. We had a good time, and it was fun to see the kids grow in their skills. Andrew decided not to play Spring soccer, because he just wanted to play baseball. But when soccer season started, he was very disappointed to not have a game!

Both boys got to play on the same t-ball team; Andrew loved it and Jonathan put up with it. I've never been a baseball player or fan, but I managed to get out a lot with the boys to play catch or to practice batting. 

In May, I ran a personal best in the half marathon at Cap City (Columbus). I ran 1:36, which was16 minutes faster than I'd ever raced (though I'd run a 1:44 in training). It was a fun race; I could get into racing half marathons!

June, July, and August had us taking short travel breaks. In June we went to Lakeside (for my Annual Conference) - we took a side trip to ride on the Cuyahoga Scenic Railroad with the cousins. In July we went to Lake Michigan with Tara's family. The boys always enjoy the beach. In August we went to Camp Sychar and spent ten days there. It was really hot, but I still managed to have the most mileage of the summer while we were there, as the Kokosing Gap Trail was a mile away from camp.

Erie, Pennsylvania, was the setting in September, as I ran the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle. I was shooting for 3:20, which was the cut-off for my (new) age group to qualify for the Boston Marathon. My training was solid, but I fell short in my attempt by 4 minutes. I wasn't upset about it, because it was still as 16 minute personal best. Who can complain about that?

Since we were already that way, we decided to go on to Niagara Falls. The boys really loved it, and I was surprised how well my legs cooperated after Erie. We walked a lot! Jonathan and Andrew got to experience their first out-of-country trip, as we stayed on the Canadian side.

In the fall, both boys got to play soccer. I coached Andrew's U5 team, the Kickers (the team chose their name). They were so much fun! Jonathan played for the CFA Academy team, meaning they traveled all over the Columbus area for their games (in addition to two practices per week). They also had a tournament in Cincinnati, where they were runners-up (losing in the championship game in penalty kicks after overtime). That was a lot of soccer, especially since I didn't play this year!

For my 40th birthday this year, I went for a three-day silent retreat, and I loved it. I loved getting to spend uninterrupted time with God. What a fantastic birthday gift.

Jonathan also started Cub Scouts this year, meaning popcorn sales, den meetings, pack meetings, badges, everything-o-rees, and Tara and I leading his den. He really enjoys it, and Andrew can't wait until he gets to be a Cub Scout.

We also joined AWANA this year, and it has been a blessing watching (and helping) the boys memorize scripture and have such fun doing it. During my Christmas sermon, I was so proud as I watched Andrew quoting John 3:16 along with me.

Through this year I have made some good friends, especially running friends, and have been blessed by so many people. I am looking forward to what God has in store for us in 2012!

Over the Top

Today for my day off, we planned a busy day, including a trip to The Chiller to enjoy their (less expensive) noon skate. On the way out, we picked up some used ice skates at Play it Again Sports (think early Christmas presents), and we were all excited to try them out.

When we got to the Chiller (we go to the "Ice Haus" one at Nationwide Arena), it seemed awfully empty... and the guy behind the counter told us why; there was no noon skate scheduled today. It seems the Blue Jackets had scheduled the ice, and, well, if it weren't for the Blue Jackets, there wouldn't be an Ice Haus. He really politely told us that if we wanted to, we could come back for the skate at 3:45, which wasn't really a choice for us, because we needed to be back to M'port around 4.

We tried to think of something else to do with the kids in the arena district, when the guy behind the counter came back out. He explained that the goalie had been out skating and had only used a corner of the ice and it would be better ice for what they had scheduled later if the ice was more cut up, so if we waited for a while, we could skate after all. We just had to wait for one guy who was out practicing.

It was actually cool to watch him practice - it can be easy to forget how quick a hockey player has to be to excel in his sport. But after he had finished, we got the go-ahead to take the ice. We had a great time!

Jonathan really is picking up ice skating. Andrew spent a lot of time on the ice. But both boys had a lot of fun, and Tara and I enjoyed it fully.

But that wasn't all. The guy behind the counter, feeling bad that we had to wait so long to skate, gave us four free passes to come back and skate. And when we were leaving, he gave the boys each a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey stick.

He didn't have to let us skate at all; after all, the mistake was ours. He could have just told us "sorry, we don't have noon skate today" and we wouldn't have held it against him, the Chiller, or the Blue Jackets. But he went above and beyond, over the top even, in his customer service. What an awesome day!

Turkey Trot Race Recap

This was the inaugural Turkey Trot 5K put on by my friend and the Mount Vernon Running Buddies on Thanksgiving morning. It was cold here, and I didn't know how to dress for the race - especially needing to dress over an hour before. So I went with tights and a semi-warm long-sleeve tech T, gloves and headband. That turned out to be too warm (of course). The wind was pretty chilly, but it was almost 40* by race time. This race was a free race benefiting Food for the Hungry, a local (Mt. Vernon) food bank. I figured it was a good cause and I still owed Dave one for running me in at Erie, so I made the trek up to Mt. Vernon.

Dave told me that I might be one of the faster runners there, so I paid close attention to the race instructions, especially directions. Thankfully Dave's dad led the pack on his bike, so I didn't get lost. Since I was the first one there, I got to sign in first, and I was given the "elite" bib number... #1! It wasn't really a "bib" per se; it was a nametag with a number printed on it. But I was #1.

After everyone had signed in and given their donations to Food for the Hungry and after about two miles of warm-up around campus, Dave gave some race instructions, took a group picture,  and lined us up at the start line.

The race started out with a mad sprint through campus. It was quickly clear who the competition was - two young guys sprinted to the front and pulled out to a sizable lead. I was already thinking "third isn't bad" when I realized that the one kid was not running steady; he was speeding up and slowing down. At that, I knew he was mine. I passed him around the mile mark, and he told me "good job." I told him to run smoothly, just keep going. The other guy was a cross-country-runner looking guy, and he was out in front by a bit. As we turned into the wind, I thought that I ought to let him take the wind for me. So I kicked it and caught up with him to draft. At first I don't think he realized I was there - he had his headphones on - and he turned and spat just as I was catching up to him... thanks a lot, buddy! As I picked up the pace, he started looking back... meaning I was in his head. So instead of drafting, I kicked past him, putting distance between us. I figured he was strong and he would keep up with me, but he didn't.

So after the 1 1/2 mile mark, I was out in front. It was hard to keep mentally in the race, but I determined not to look back. After all, the only race I have to run is what is in front of me! I kept concentrating on Dave's dad on the lead bike and kept going. When we went around a sharp corner, I snuck a look back and cross country guy was wayyyy back.

I tried to keep my concentration level high, not to think about how far back anybody might be, to keep my pace steady, and to only look forward. I kept pushing to keep up with Dave's dad on the lead bike (and he kept pulling away - amazing how much easier it is to go fast on a bike!), but that was what I needed from him. 

As we pulled back onto campus, nobody was close. Coming around one corner, my "bib" went flying off (I picked it up later on my cool-down run). I figured (correctly) that nobody would care. I had one spot where I was a little confused on the course, but it turned out OK, as I came around the corner and saw the finish line ahead of me.

I took this moment to look at my Garmin and I saw that a PR was in the realm of possibility, so I pushed as hard as I could to the finish line. Alas, I was one second off the PR, finishing in 19:28. 

Pretty much as soon as I finished, I turned around and ran the course in reverse direction as a cool down. I was so pumped up from the outright win that I probably could have run it three times. This was my first overall win since the 8th grade, and it felt good!

Homecoming

Yesterday I got to experience what is great about living in a small town. A friend's son has been serving in the Air Force and yesterday he returned to Ohio from Afghanistan. Millersport turned out with flags and banners,they gave him a police and fire truck escort, and all of the school kids came out of the school and lined the street to thank Garrett for his service. When he saw the crowd, they stopped the car and Garrett got out and greeted all the kids. It was a wonderful homecoming for a local hero, and, to me, this represented the best of small-town life - that here in the small town, we can all stop and honor someone who made a sacrifice for our freedom.

A Leaf Story

One day in the woods, the most beautiful red leaf came lightly falling through the forest canopy. As it drifted down, it spied a green, leafy bush below.

“That would be a fantastic place to land!” thought the red leaf, and it fluttered down toward the bush, where it gently landed.

Safely in the bush, the red leaf began meeting its new neighbors, the green leaves. They were very kind, and soon the red leaf had forgotten that it had begun its life in a tree. It felt like it fit in perfectly. So perfectly that it began volunteering to work around the bush, work that it saw the green leaves doing.

And how joyful was that work! It was so nice being involved. The green leaves loved the red leaf. The red leaves loved the green leaf. The green leaves invited the red leaf to stay. “Become one of us,” they begged. “You can be grafted in!”

But while the red leaf loved the green bush, the red leaf also liked its independence. The red leaf liked the idea that it could come and go whenever it pleased, that it could once again take to the freedom of the sky. In the meantime, the red leaf faithfully worked in the green bush.

As the days went on, something happened. The red leaf wasn’t quite sure when it started, but one day it noticed that it wasn’t really enjoying doing the work that the green leaves all did. And its luxurious red color, which the green leaves had all noticed, was turning a bit brown. And though the red leaf had taken pride in how flexible it was, now it noticed that at certain times, its points felt, well, rather brittle.

So things continued – for the green leaves, everything was as usual. But for the red leaf, every day was harder and harder to face. Nobody else seemed to feel it, but the red leaf was getting tired of life in the green bush.

And then one day, the red leaf decided to leave. Just as suddenly as it had arrived on the green bush, and in precisely the same manner, it left, taking once again to the air. But this time, there was no other bush to land in. The red leaf landed on the ground, where it was promptly raked up, piled into a giant pile, and unceremoniously burned.

What had gone wrong?

Though the red leaf lived in the green bush, the red leaf never accepted its place there. The red leaf had the opportunity to be grafted in, but it thought of its “freedom” and declined. Therefore, without any connection to the bush and to its root, the red leaf was slowly dying. By the time it fell from the bush, it was already dead, and the only thing left to do was for someone to rake it up and burn it.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown in the fire and burned.” - Jesus; from John 15:5-6