Do Hard Things and a Bible Reading Challenge

Last week I was working on a sermon about stopping running away from doing tough things, and one place of inspiration for the message was Brett and Alex Harris' book Do Hard Things (incidentally, if you are a teenager or parent (or grandparent) of a teenager or preteen, this ought to be required reading). I checked out Alex and Brett's website (the rebelution) I noticed they had a forum there.  I didn't register or anything, but I glanced at it, and I was struck by a thread there.

Some people there decided to read the Bible through in its entirety... during Christmas break... again.  Yes, I said again.  The person who posed the idea was planning to do it again.  She had done it before.

Now, I've read through the Bible in a year. I've read through the Bible chronologically.  I've read (almost all of) the Bible devotionally or for study (yes, even Leviticus).  But not in such a short time.

Yet as I was running and listening to a sermon and thinking about hard things and about the message I was getting ready to deliver, I thought, "What hard thing am I supposed to do?" and the answer came pretty quickly.  I should read the Bible in its entirety, during Lent.

For you who aren't familiar with the Christian liturgical year, Lent is the 40 day period (not counting Sundays) before Easter, starting on Ash Wednesday. It's a time when we focus on Christ and repentance, often by "giving something up for Lent" (fasting) and/or "taking something up for Lent" (adding another spiritual discipline).  I decided to "take something up" - namely Bible reading.

There are 1189 chapters in the Bible, and 40 days in Lent (Sundays will be days off), meaning each day I'll will need to read 30 chapters (and then the last couple of days will be a little lighter).

Being foolhardy and not necessarily thinking things out, I announced to the congregation at church that I would be doing this.  Both services.  I'm sure I'll have plenty of accountability.

So I decided, if I'm going to be that accountable, I'd might as well make a facebook group, too.  That way maybe some other people could join me in this challenge.  So I did.  You can find it here.  If you are interested, check out the facebook page - there's a little "join this group" link on the left side of the page (under the picture of the Bible).  I'll shortly be posting the reading plan I'll be using.

Going the Extra Mile

I think our culture has largely forgotten the extra mile. I know it's a hard concept for me to get my head around, let alone my actions.  I have had several recurring dreams in my life. The first one I can remember involved a huge locomotive barreling down the tracks at me - I was probably 6 years old.  Most of them involve school: showing up at school sans clothing - though usually I have a towel and/or underwear (sorry for that mental picture).  And then there's the one about forgetting my locker combination (the other night I had that dream, but I remembered the combination!).  Often I end up on my way to a final exam in a class that I had never showed up for and somehow forgot to drop (and I often don't even know where the class is going to be held). For a long time I had church-related nightmares (those stopped when I got to a place of forgiveness for some hurtful things that had happened).

But one of my frequent recurring dreams is the one about running.  You have to remember that I actually like running, but in these dreams (often I'm running a cross-country race) I can hardly move.  I'm running, but my feet feel like lead.  Kind of like how they felt when I was running the last couple of miles of the Columbus Marathon, when I couldn't lift them enough to stomp on a paper cup.  So I stop running and walk.  But I can hardly move while walking either, so I decide that I'd be better off crawling.  And that doesn't even help.  So I can hardly move.

I know, there are probably other reasons for this type of dream, but it got me to thinking about going the extra mile.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's when Jesus was talking to his disciples and the crowds and he told them "If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." The idea was that the Romans could force their conquered people to carry their stuff for a mile.  That was the limit.  But Jesus tells his followers to go ahead and go way beyond what is required.

I don't know about you, but sometimes just doing what is required is hard.  It feels like those running dreams I was talking about.  My feet are made of lead.  Even when I know I should do it.  But then to go the extra mile... that's like crawling!  Uphill.  In the snow.  And honestly I don't want to do it.

But that's what Jesus is telling me to do.  And he's not just telling me to do it with a "do as I say" kind of attitude.  He lived it out.  2 Corinthians 5:21 is a good verse to take to heart: God made him who had no sin to become sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

That's a good reminder to me... to go the extra mile, because I won't travel it alone.  Jesus already walked it, and He walks it with me.

The Decade that Was: A Retrospective

Now that it's a good solid week into 2010, I thought I'd write up a brief retrospective of the past 10 years.

2001: I was in my last year of seminary at Asbury, living in Nicholasville, KY, running a 3 mile loop pretty much daily with Nate and Scooter.  I got a job offer in Ohio, so after graduation, I became the Associate/Youth Pastor at Stonybrook UMC.

Life changed pretty quickly with two events in 2001: the death of Troy Simpson, a young man I'd just gotten to know, but who was good friends with pretty much everyone I was friends with in Gahanna.  I'll never forget his funeral... mostly because it took place on September 11.

2002: Work. That seems like all I did.  60 hours per week usually. I played bass in the praise band at church, and I started guitar lessons.  Tara got her Master's Degree at Ohio State, and I got to play (guitar) in her recital.

2003: Another year of tons of work with little respite, but this year we got to go a couple of neat trips.  We went to England to see my brother, and that was a wonderful trip.  After we got back, we got to see the Grand Canyon when we were in Arizona for a conference.

2004: Life changed forever as we welcomed Jonathan to the world!  I don't like any pictures of me from this time period because I gained a lot of baby weight (and stress weight).  I didn't get any time off for the baby, and that added to the stressful life. That summer we got a new senior pastor at Stonybrook, who we were really looking forward to.  My biggest accomplishment at church was starting youth ministry small groups.

2005: This year we figured out that the senior pastor and I didn't see eye-to-eye.  After a surprise call from the district superintendent, I found out that we were moving from Gahanna.  I learned a lot about both obedience and betrayal this year. This summer we moved from Gahanna to New Knoxville, Ohio. Once again, I was involved in high school soccer, as I volunteered with the team.

2006: Right at the beginning of the year, Tara blew out her knee.  But she had surgery and rehabbed it fast enough to go backpacking in the Grand Canyon in May!  What an awesome trip. This summer at Vacation Bible School, I joined with the pastor of the "other" church in town to do some improv skits.  This morphed into a deep friendship with "PD" in which we would routinely get together and share and pray for one another.  One of the highlights of New Knoxville life was this friendship and the fellowship between our churches.  It was hard being "on my own" in ministry, so it was great to have someone to share with.  In the Fall, I officially became a marathon runner, when I ran the Columbus Marathon. It honestly was a lot of fun.  Until the 19 mile mark. Finish time: 4:26.  But more important than all of that was that this year in August, Andrew was born! 

2007: After having custody of Andrew for six months, we got to adopt him!  So he officially joined our family this year.  I joined an accountability group of fellow pastors, which was ministry-wise one of the best experiences I've had.  I ran another marathon, this time in Louisville (finish time: 4:17).  This was fun until the last couple of miles, and after the marathon, I felt horrible.

2008: We moved again - this time to Millersport, Ohio.  I was so excited to move to Millersport; we already had friends here, and it was close to Columbus. It was a lot of work to move, and even more work on the new house, but it's exciting to be working on a (church staff) team instead of alone.  Jonathan started preschool this year, and he loved it.  He also started piano lessons!

2009: This spring, Jonathan started on a soccer team, and he continued his piano lessons (even had his first recital).  Andrew started preschool in the fall (and was the first to catch his teacher's fish).  We welcomed Baby Jason into our family for 4 months (August 10-December 8) and got a chance to love him.

Now it's 2010... who knows what this year holds for us?!

Looking Out For Pedestrians

When I was in drivers' ed, I remember how our teacher stressed to us, as new drivers, that when we are beginning to enter an intersection, we aren't to do so until we've looked both ways (twice).  The most important part of looking both ways was (obviously) to look for cars, but part of looking both ways was to look for pedestrians.

I've noticed that people don't walk as much these days, and maybe this is what contributes to the following: I've noticed that drivers often don't look for pedestrians.  I've noticed this as a runner (where I'm always vigilant when crossing streets or driveways), but I've noticed it even more as a father, walking with my boys.  Drivers just aren't on the lookout for pedestrians.

It's important (as a pedestrian) that I look out for drivers who aren't looking out for me.  But it's a reminder that it's extremely important as a driver to look out for pedestrians, even when you don't often see people walking around town.

I was thinking about this on my run last night (after a passenger had to alert a driver of my presence).

Sometimes we get to areas in our lives where we haven't been tempted in some area for a long time.  Maybe you used to struggle in some area and you knew you had to remain vigilant all the time, but those struggles haven't surfaced in a long time, and you've stopped looking out for them.  Like the alcoholic who used to stay away from bars because he knew he'd be tempted, but he hasn't had a drink in such a long time, so why not stop by the bar with his friends - after all, alcohol isn't a problem anymore, is it?  Or the married person who knows he or she will never have an affair, so even though they know they shouldn't be spending so much time alone with someone of the opposite sex, they think it could never happen to them, and they lose their vigilance.

The lesson is that we need to remain vigilant.  Even (especially) in areas where we think we're in the clear.  Take an extra look for pedestrians today.

Insight From Running

If you've been reading my blog, it shouldn't come as a surprise to you that I am an avid runner.  A few years ago I decided to run a marathon.  I trained all summer and early fall to run in mid-to-late October.  Then a friend asked me to run another one in April.  This meant I had to do all those weeks of training through the winter.  I religiously trained, though I spent many, many miles going around and around and around the track at the YMCA (hey, it beats the treadmill!).

I logged a lot of Y miles over the past four years, especially in the winter.  This year, however, we canceled our Y membership - mostly because of the time it takes us to go to and from the gym.  It's a good 25-30 minutes each way, meaning I'd have to block out at least an extra hour for a workout.

So, as long as the roads aren't ice covered, I'm running outside.

One thing I've found is that what I run in is of utmost importance.  I have several pairs of running tights (I've been wearing the warmest pair this week), but anything above 35 is shorts weather.  Otherwise my legs get too hot.  On top, I have several different running shirts (technical fabric - good for wicking away sweat), and when it's extremely cold I'll wear a jacket, too.

Add gloves and a headband or hat to that and I'm fine.  Right?

Not really.

This past week my face has been the coldest I can remember.  Yesterday I thought my cheeks might crack.  I think I'm going to get a running face mask of some kind.  Preferably sooner rather than later.  The problem has been big enough that I don't end up running nearly as far as I want (nor as fast).  In fact, as I write this, I am thinking about going out for a run, but I just don't want to expose my face to the wind.

What does this have to do with anything?

I can get everything else right, but if I'm neglecting one area, my life won't be the life it was meant to be.  If I do everything right in public but neglect my personal time with the LORD, I'm leaving my face exposed to the wind and cold.  If I'm engaged in sinful behavior or sinful thought patterns, I'm likewise exposing my face to the elements, no matter how well I'm dressed otherwise.

When Jesus told his followers to "be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48), he was telling them: if you want to follow me, you'll have to be all in.  You can't compartmentalize your life and trust me in some and trust in yourself in others.  You can't have it both ways.  You're going to have to follow me with everything.  Dress yourself completely in me. Otherwise your life won't be the life God meant for it to be.

So, how are you dressed for the weather?  And how is your life dressed for following Jesus?

I'm Glad I'm Not Out Here By Myself

I remember starting out in ministry, when Sundays were painful.  By painful, I mean they were extremely difficult.  They usually included 14 hour work days with a short break in the middle.  I had to wear multiple hats and had to change them on the fly.

I was burned out, over stressed, and struggling.  One thing I didn't recognize at all was how little I was actually worshiping God.  I was doing so much and being pulled in so many different directions that Sundays were anything but a time of celebrating God.  Though we had musical excellence, we weren't a singing church, and that was an extremely hard transition from seminary.

When I first started there, I was there for one week, and then the senior pastor left for his three week vacation.  Then the church secretary left for a two week vacation.  I was left in charge for three weeks with little to no help.  That was awful. I got the impression (and was told outright) that if I wanted things done well, I had to do them.  Later at that church, I was told that I wasn't doing things well enough, so I needed to do everything and I needed to do it all differently.  But that's another story...

So I moved on to another church, and I was the solo pastor.  Something I guess I'd learned by osmosis was that the only time someone other than the pastor preached was when the pastor was on vacation.  Only then would he relinquish "his" pulpit.  I lived that out in New Knoxville, only giving opportunities when I was gone.  That was a mistake, and I am sorry for doing that, because we had a very able retired pastor as well as a just-as-capable (and homegrown) certified lay speaker who could preach whenever I called on them.

One value I've been trying to live out since is something I learned by not seeing it practiced is that it demonstrates to other on my team that I support them if I show up.  Yes, that means listening to the sermons of those who work with me, even though I am the lead pastor.  Quite honestly, I enjoy sitting and listening to Chad or Rudy preach.  They bring the Word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, and I get to support them and listen to the words God has given them.

But that isn't even the most important part of not being on my own. I think about a crisis in the church and having to come back early from vacation (after thanksgiving) but honestly Rudy was doing so much work behind the scenes that it made my work a lot easier (not that it was easy, but it was better having someone working with me).  And then there is the factor of bouncing ideas off one another and leading in different areas of gifting and handing off other responsibilities (this "handing off" doesn't just go "down" the chain - if there's something that Chad or Rudy can't or shouldn't be doing, I'll pick it up, too).  Like when one of them preaches, if I'm there, I will do other aspects of the service to allow them to "just" preach (I'll do the greeting and announcements and prayer, so they don't have to worry about what comes next, which is incidentally why I've always got the bulletin/program in my hand, because I don't remember what's next even though our services look pretty similar every week).

Above that, though, the most important reason I'm not out here by myself is prayer.  We try to pray together weekly as an office staff, not a "staff meeting" where we are discussing what's going on in the church and office and so forth, but prayer for each other and for the world.  We have established an openness and honesty on staff where we can (and do!) support each other prayerfully and that carries over into the ministry.  When the church staff is praying for one another, it does great things for the church.  I think it's probably the most important thing that can go on behind the scenes in a church.