Reading


I am an avid reader and have always been (ever since that first time reading Go, Dogs, Go all by myself). I can't remember a time when I didn't like to read (though there was a time in seminary when I was reading an assigned book in a doctor's waiting room and someone asked me what I was reading and I told her that I was reading Ben Witherington's "The Christology of Jesus" and quipped that it was "a chore."


She misunderstood me and answered back brightly, "Honey, any book about Jesus is a joy!"


That put me in my place - it was a joy to be able to attend seminary and grow closer in my walk with Jesus and to better understand who He is, and I didn't have any right to complain.


Anyway, here's what I've been reading and am currently reading. I just finished David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons' unChristian, a book about their research about Christians and our behavior and our reputation.


This is an extremely important book for any (every) American Christian leader to read to help us all examine how to minister to a culture which is increasingly turned off by Christians and our unChristian reputation.



I have just started reading Adam Hamilton's book, "Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White" as he spoke at the Change the World Conference (about which I blogged earlier this week). I bought a package deal of each of the conference speakers' new books, and I decided I'd start with Hamilton's (as he was the first speaker of the conference).



In the second chapter, Hamilton talks about how sometimes we "strain gnats" (taken from Jesus' harangue at the Pharisees in Matthew 23:24, where He accuses them of "straining out a gnat but swallowing a camel"). He makes his point by remembering smashing his Beatles records after listening to a preacher tell him of the evils of rock-n-roll music (I wonder if it was someone like this guy) - and, as Hamilton puts it, "on the day the preacher was telling me that God wanted me to throw away my Beatles albums, thirty-two thousand people around the world died of starvation and malnutrition-related diseases!"


Unfortunately, his example brings a certain natural reaction with it. Why did you trash those Beatles albums? They would have been worth something today (I know that full well; I sold some original Beatles albums to a used bookstore, and the proprietor practically drooled as he offered me a low ball price for them, a price which was far more than they were worth to me), and they weren't offensive in any way (he makes it clear that these were of the "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!" variety).


The problem I have with his story and the way he tells it is this: what exactly constitutes "straining gnats" and what "camels" are we swallowing? Does holy living (which includes ridding oneself of distractions from living a holy life, possibly including culling one's music selections) have to keep one from caring about world hunger? Are keeping right doctrine and working for justice mutually exclusive?


I say no; and I believe the church should do both. We should call people to personal holiness and to living it out. We should be calling people to relationship with Jesus Christ, and allowing His love for them to transform them into loving people, people who go out and live the Truth...

Broken

In today's world news headlines on my igoogle page, I read about bomb attacks in India, suicide bombing in Kabul, chaos in Congo, and riots and trouble in Syria at the US embassy.

Meanwhile, in US news, everything was about the upcoming election (mostly about the (anti-environmentalist) candidates sparring (or "battling bitterly" as one paper reported).

I believe the two-party system is so badly broken that it has indeed come down to this: the Republicans and the Democrats are much more interested in winning elections than in serving the people who elect them. They are more interested in tearing down their opponents than in demonstrating how they would be any better (interestingly, both candidates are painting the other as being ready to immediately tax the country back to the Stone Age).

These are the same kinds of divisions that have continually plagued the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church and have made Annual Conference downright painful to attend in past years, but this past year, all but the far left and right fringes were able to put aside differences and worship together (if I didn't mention it here, A.C. 2008 was the best I'd been to BY FAR). The body even voted that we wouldn't even bring three resolutions up for discussion because of their divisive nature.

The difference is that in the Annual Conference, we fall back on what holds us together: our love for Jesus Christ. In the election, however, the unifying factors is patriotism, and neither side is willing to admit that the other side has the country's best interest in mind (and is thus unpatriotic).

It's a reminder to me that we cannot put our trust in our nation or government (and the instability of the stock market and national finances in general) demonstrate that we cannot put our trust in money... but our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and offers a better way.

Getting Soft

I think I'm just getting soft. I can remember running in much, much colder weather than this morning, and when I looked through an old running journal (from Gahanna, meaning it was at least 4 years ago), there was a spot to record temperature, and often I'd be running in 20 degrees or less.

Anyway, this morning (temperature 35, with wind chill taking it down in the mid 20s) I really didn't want to run. I was cold and miserable and the wind just whipped through my tights (running tights - I don't want anyone to get a mental picture of me traipsing around in other kinds of tights. You've already gotten that mental picture? Oops! You'll take it with you to your death bed). I even decided to run around Lieb's Island multiple times rather than running out into the open farmland (Lieb's Island is full of houses and trees and blocks the wind rather well).

But I decided that I'm getting soft. Or maybe I've forgotten what it's like to run in the cold.

Dr. Mr. President (ial candidates)

I know neither of you really care about the environment. I know this because I have been doing paper recycling at the local post office, and I can see how many fliers you are sending to everyone in this community (all of which end up in the garbage or recycling bin). If you really truly cared about the environment, you would not be wasting so much paper.

Sincerely,
A Friend

Change the World?

I'm not sure what I was expecting from the Change the World Conference at Ginghamsburg (UM) Church this weekend. I was expecting some bold statements (given that the keynote speakers included Brian McLaren, Adam Hamilton, Michael Slaughter, and Jim Wallis.

I've heard Wallis speak before, and I didn't get much new from his speech (though I was expecting something a little different than what he got, given that it was given as the central focus of one of the host church's main worship services).

The highlight (for me) of his speech was his comment that we have a choice between hope and cynicism. I often find myself a lot more cynical than hopeful, so this was challenging.

Brian McLaren once again impressed me as brilliant, an excellent speaker, and very willing to dialogue with those with differing opinions than he had. He is also probably one of the (if not The) current Christian leaders who would be awesome to hang out with and get to know personally. He seems fun and playful along with his brilliance.

He talked a lot about 4 global crises: Crisis of the Planet, Crisis of Poverty, Crisis of Peace, and Crisis of Purpose, and he challenged us to stop living out the current narratives (domination, revolution, blame/purification, isolation, victimizaion, and accumulation) but to embrace Jesus' new narrative.

It was during Adam Hamilton's speeches at Annual Conference (West Ohio) two years ago that I first felt proud to be in the United Methodist Church, so I was looking forward to hearing him speak again. He seems to be one who would most rather err on the side of grace (I'm looking forward to reading his book "Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White" (which I purchased at the conference)), and I can understand that. The problem is that we (the church) are seen as judgmental, and often (usually?) we've earned that reputation. So to show grace, to show God's unconditional love, to listen to someone's story and get to know them, to accept them just as they are... these are traits of Christians.

We have to trust that the Holy Spirit will convict them of their sins, but that means we have to help them to meet and understand the Holy Spirit...

Hamilton talked a lot about a gap between Kingdom priorities and our current priorities; we need to "mind the gap" and address it with specific leadership (for example: our church isn't doing well in the area of mission; thus our leaders need to lead in the area of mission).

It was Michael Slaughter's speech that disappointed. Slaughter grew the Ginghamsburg church from a small, country church to a megachurch, and he has been there for 30some years (extremely long for the United Methodist Church). He made some ridiculous statements, including that people on his staff tell him (all the time) to, "sit down, Michael." Yeah, right. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY is saying, "sit down, Michael." Not the District Superintendent, not the Bishop, and certainly not members of his staff. Nobody is telling him what to do.

I keep reading that my generation (and the generations coming up) value authenticity, and I've found that true. When you then misrepresent yourself, you lose your right to speak. This is kind of what happened with Slaughter. He came across as a pretty straight shooter, unafraid to say whatever was on his mind (including a couple of minor expletives), so why not shoot straight with us and admit, "Whatever I say around here goes..."

One thing that can't be ignored is that his church is doing amazing things in Darfur, and I look forward to the day when Millersport Church is doing such amazing mission work. Understand that I believe this is what it looks like when people actually grasp Jesus as Truth: then we must live out what He said. But that isn't the only goal...

Slaughter did a great job of showing the difference between the "cruise ship" and the "missional outpost" and asked a pointed question: What would Millersport look like if the Millersport UM Church closed tomorrow? This is an important question to ask in this context; I know that the people "within" would be affected, but how would it affect our community?

What People Really Mean

If you deal with people regularly, you'll find that they often say certain things while meaning something completely different. For example, if you are single and your friend tells you that they have a friend you need to meet with a "great personality" - that's probably not what they really mean. If my wife asks me, "Were you going to wear that?" it means something like, "Those don't match" or "your clothes are horribly wrinkled" or "that outfit makes you look like a tent" or something similar.

In ministry, I've found that people often say certain things but mean something completely different. If you want to know what some of those phrases are (especially if you are a pastor or work in ministry), you have to read Perry Noble's post on the subject. Not only did I crack up and share it with Rudy (my right-hand man), but I printed it out and stuck it on my bulletin board.

Darby O'Gill and the Little People

When I was little, my neighbor brought me (along with her kids) to see a movie. The movie was Darby O'Gill and the Little People. It absolutely terrified me. I spent most of the movie praying for it to be over (and envying my little neighbor kid, who fell asleep). Something about a death coach and a banshee gave me nightmares for quite a while.

Now Jonathan has his own Darby O'Gill experience, coming at the hands of an innocuous-seeming Thomas the Train movie: Thomas and the Magic Railroad. Our neighbor gave it to us, and we, just thinking "ah, it's just Thomas" let him watch it (Thursday). He's been afraid to leave our side since then. He's had nightmares and is afraid to go to sleep, and he keeps telling us, "That movie is stuck in my head forever."

I have to say I know how he feels.

Slowly But Surely...



...the work on the house continues!

The plywood is off the double door upstairs (the door into what used to be the sunroom, which will be replaced as the room is transformed into a bathroom).

It's amazing how bright the stairway is once again. It's also a reminder of how quickly the weather is getting chilly (supposed to freeze tonight).

This is what the upstairs looks like inside. No, this isn't the finished product, but it is a lot closer!

Outside the roof has shingles (I've heard that's a really painful condition; I almost feel sorry for it), windows and a door are in, and the house is wrapped up. Careful: that first step's a doozy!

Today "they" are supposed to be coming by to do more work. It's a beautiful day for work, but we're unfortunately competing with our church's fall festival AND the ohio state football game (which was a TBA on the schedule but then was scheduled for right smack dab in the middle of the festival. grumble mutter fuss).

Think!

In his book unChristian, David Kinnaman states that "We are learning that one of the primary reasons that ministry to teenagers fails to produce a lasting faith is because they are not being taught to think."

This was a major failing of my church upbringing. For teenagers, thinking was discouraged like the plague. The lack of commitment to thinking, I think (there's that word again) went along with the path to salvation, the one that went like this: Confess, repent, accept Jesus/get baptized, livetheChristianlife.

This livetheChristianlife concept was the reason I loved Steve Taylor's "I Want to Be a Clone" so much.

"I've learned enough to stay afloat/But not so much I rock the boat"

The idea was that too much thinking would upset the faith altogether.

I figure that our God, who CREATED us, can withstand some critical thought. I once told a teenager who had some doubts that his God wasn't big enough. Our God *is* big enough, and if we can really, really think, it can help us find more and more gems in scripture.

This isn't to say that a simply intellectual approach is all that is needed. But it cannot be ignored.

Cross Country

Last night I went to Millersport's (only) home cross country meet. It sure brought back a lot of memories, especially of junior high cross country. There were all sorts of things I liked about running cross country. I liked how unstructured practice usually was: just go out and run (and keep on running)! In 8th grade, we ran a lot at Summers Park and in the cemetery near our school (OK, so I had one difficulty with Summers Park, and that was that root that I sprained my ankle on).

I remember as a middle schooler, how important I felt when the high school coach came up and talked to me following a meet, wondering if I would be running in high school, because the team could use a runner like me. I had a "popular" kid write in my 7th grade yearbook "to Flash, the long distance man"... (and something about kicking the crap out of the other runners [sic] buts [sic]).

I loved the camaraderie with the other runners - even from the opposing team. My dad gave me a strategy: to draft off the other team's top runner and then sprint him at the end, and it always worked through middle school. It also helped me build friendships with most of them, because we would talk all through the race.

Once I got to 8th grade, several of them were my teammates (Tim and Richard, most notably), and we pushed each other hard. I remember one race I really thought Richard would beat me, and I told him he had to let me win because it was my birthday (it was). As it turned out, I don't think anyone let anyone win, because I ended up setting the course record that day.

High school was a little harder; it's tough coming in as a freshman. Of course, I was running cross country every day and then going for soccer practice (often riding my bike across town to get to soccer). I probably ate my parents out of house and home!

I ended up running #1 JV as a freshman, and I won a lot of meets. In the last (regular season) meet of the year, we ran JV and varsity together (JV probably had to wear our jerseys inside-out, so it looked like we were from OMOKOK), and I was our 7th runner, earning me a varsity point (toward the 15 or so that you had to get to earn a varsity letter).

Then, after the Sectional, some disciplinary problems on the team (none relating to me) required a new 7th varsity runner, so we had a run-off to determine who would run in the Regional. I won the run-off (with my best-ever time and my only sub-17 time: 16:57), so I went to the Regional, which our team won (earning me my varsity letter).

I loved running cross country; I liked the courses (especially those that went through woods and up a lot of hills). I liked getting out and running and running and running with my friends. I liked the runners' high. In fact, having made the varsity team, I had decided that as a sophomore, if there were conflicts between soccer and cross-country, I would run. But when I went to church camp and thus wasn't eligible for the first meet (and played soccer instead), so the coach was mad at me and instead of talking to me, he bawled out my sister, that was it.

I think that cross country coach would be surprised to know that I'm still running these days (and loving it).

Music Time

It's once again time for me to choose some new tunes to download. Any great suggestions?

Progress!

I last blogged about the progress on the house a month ago, when the work (finally) started. After the addition was torn down, a hole was dug, a footer was poured, and a foundation was built. This past week, Chip came and built the floor.

This past Saturday we returned from an outing to find Chip back at work, building walls. We (meaning Tara and I, as well as Julie and Johanna, who happened to be passing by at the time) helped him lift the third wall into place. Then, as I chased after our kids, Tara did the sawing and Chip did the building.


Sunday afternoon, I left to be a supervising elder at a charge conference in Heath (just up the road). When I returned, there was a crew working on the house (no, not these guys. or these guys, either). Chip, Arney, Dr. Jim, Terry, and Rudy were all there to build the second floor.


It looks like this might happen after all! :-)