Tis the Season

For the gym to be filled. Another new year has dawned, and resolutions have been made - this is the year I'm going to work off the fat I've gained over the past year, 5 years, 10 years, or whatever. Starting January 1, I will lose all those pounds that so much fast food and office work have added to my frame. I'm going to feel better about myself, I'm going to look better...

...until one of those bugs that goes around hits and I get out of the habit of going to the gym.
...or until a big snowstorm hits and I can't make it.
...or until things stack up at work or home and I can't find the time.
...or until I realize how hard it is to lose that weight; that it comes off about as fast as I put it on.
...or whatever the excuse.

Then it's back to the normal routine, and no real change has been made.

I see a spiritual parallel here: often something comes along that kicks us in the seat and causes us to want some sort of spiritual transformation. Maybe it's a "mountaintop" experience at a church camp or retreat. Maybe it's a moving church service or a particularly touching message. Maybe it's a crisis (9/11 provided one of those, and churches were full for the next few weeks).

But something happens: maybe you miss a week or two, which becomes three or four; maybe other things compete for your time; perhaps you keep hearing hard sayings - hard to reconcile with the world as you know it or hard to actually accomplish, maybe you realize that this Christianity thing isn't so easy and it just seems easier to go along like before; or maybe you are carrying so much baggage that you don't see the results you hoped for and you give up.

This is why I think personal relationship is key for spiritual growth. It is one of the reasons I cringe when I hear someone say that they stay home and watch one of their favorite preachers on TV and that's "church" for them. They miss out on the group, and the group misses out on their input. They miss out on the work that is naturally a part of living in community, the work that causes growth.

I'm not saying that people can't grow spiritually by themselves; I'm just saying that it's not the usual way it happens. And just like I know that the gym will be much emptier in a month, so, too, will those who just begin showing up for Sunday-only church experiences drop off if they don't make a connection.

Upside Down

Yesterday I participated in two different sporting events. I went bowling and I played indoor soccer. Normally I am a bad bowler and a good soccer player. Yesterday in bowling I had two of my best games ever (I can only remember having a better score one time). Then, in soccer (after playing a good first half out in the field), I played in the goal.

I thought I was a good goalkeeper, but I got shellacked. (we were already up by a lot when I went in, meaning that the other team was allowed an extra player, but that didn't excuse our lack of defense. Or the couple of really poor goals I allowed).

My Thoughts

1. Yesterday was Mission Sunday at our church. The goal was to make people aware of some of the opportunities that are available - that they can do. There were all levels of mission activity, from hands-on to monthly payment to prayers to writing letters to sending Bibles. I felt spiritually heavy around this issue and this service - like the last thing Satan wanted was for people to catch fire for mission (which I know is true). So he was throwing everything he could against it.

But things went pretty well. The weather cooperated and we had good attendance (so many people could hear the words). One of the speakers spoke from her own experience, how God convinced her to participate in prison ministry, and how she's been affected by it (not to mention how those imprisoned young people have been transformed). She challenged the congregation that every one of them can do something. It was exactly the challenge I wanted to make, but I felt like she made it better than I would have.

Unfortunately, not everyone got it. As I greeted the congregation members following the service, one gentleman said to me, "Nice sermon."

I hadn't preached.

He then backpedaled and said, "You gave us a lot to think about."

I hope he meant it.

2. Every month, we have a county-wide clergy meeting with our Assistant District Superintendent. I have been impressed with the "new guy" (who started last July 1). I admit that I didn't like him at first (before I'd even met him) because of who his friends were and some unpleasant conflicts with some of them and a perception of him being a part of an "Old Boys' Network."

While the "old guy" (who retired) was a good guy who related well to us, his concern, love, and care seemed to be first and foremost aimed at the United Methodist Church, specifically the churches in his district. The "new guy" has demonstrated that his concern, love, and care is first and foremost for the pastors of those churches.

I found out this week that we will not be having our monthly meeting because "new guy" will be with his daughter, who is having some medical tests. I couldn't be more pleased. Not because we won't be having the meeting (I don't mind the meetings - it's a free breakfast; the meetings are a good way to keep in touch with the district and the other clergy of the county; we get a free breakfast; the meetings happen just down the street from my weekly accountability group's meeting place, so it's convenient; did I mention food?), but because "new guy" is putting his family first.

That's a great example of what we as clergy should be doing.

3. Christmas is coming, and all our Christmas gifts have been purchased. Now if we can just figure out a good time to exchange gifts with the rest of the family! (I think we've gotten part of that figured out). The sad thing is Uncle Dunce and Aunt Mrs. Dunce won't be able to get here from across the pond.

4. I just got Chris Tomlin's See The Morning CD. I have loved his previous recordings, so I have high hopes for this one. We'll see how it grows on me.

5. We have made it to 2007 on our scrapbook(s). We are doing a separate one for Andrew's first year (like we did for Jonathan). It's amazing how much they have grown in a year! We completed 14 pages yesterday evening, which has to be something of a productivity record in our house.

6. I really like college football, and this year has been crazy. It's hard to believe that Ohio State and L.S.U. are going to play in the national championship game. I don't have superb insight into college football or anything (I hardly have even watched a game), but this year has been fun with all of the upsets. Mostly I'm talking about the #1 and #2 teams losing (not Duke beating Northwestern), but I loved seeing Notre Dame taking a beating (did you know that a google search for "Notre Dame Sucks" drew some 73,100 hits?).

7. At the Y today, I think it was "flaunt the rules" day. I was jogging on the track, which overlooks the basketball courts, and there were three young kids (obviously siblings) playing down there. The oldest (who was probably 9) was shooting baskets. His younger siblings were climbing on stacks of chairs and gymnastics equipment.

Why were they in there unsupervised? So mom could work out.

Then, as I ran, an older guy came to walk on the track. But he insisted on walking in the opposite direction of traffic. There is a large sign that directs which way traffic should travel (M,W,F, traffic goes counterclockwise, T,TH,SAT,SUN traffic goes clockwise) - it's not too hard to figure out. It's even less difficult when there is already someone on the track.

Yet he insisted on going the wrong way. Sounds like life, doesn't it?

8. I love the Bible study I'm in. Even though sometimes people come up with some wacky ideas (like the Mormonesque one I reported a few weeks ago), it's exciting to delve deeply into the scriptures and find out what they say and what they could mean. It's fun to find a troublesome passage and really get into a deep discussion about why it's so hard to understand.

9. Now I think that's really all I've got to say.

A Bust, part 2

OK, so maybe I was a little rough on the challenge court. Perhaps if I played again, I could score (so tempting to lapse into Beavis & Butthead speak... AAHHHH, WE'RE NEVER GONNA SCORE!). At least someone talked to us. And nobody said, "Leave now."

It was awfully frustrating to be taken out back of the woodshed and whuped like the proverbial red-headed stepchild. Having played soccer at a pretty high level, I've enjoyed all kinds of soccer - including pick-up games with marginally skilled players, and I always give them a chance. Even if my teammate has terrible skills, I'll give him the ball if he's made the effort to get open. After all, that was the reason he came out... to play. I wasn't even given that chance.


And as for Ricky Williams, after his (hurried) reinstatement, he carried the ball 6 times (limited because of an injury). Now all the marijuana he uses will be strictly medicinal.

A Bust

I went and played (errr, attempted to play) racquetball tonight at the Y's challenge court. Ouch. I got the message loud and clear: beginners need not apply.

Speaking of busts, the NFL decided that it would be appropriate to reinstate Ricky Williams, who has tested postive for pot four times since the Dolphins signed him in 2002. I imagine the chances of him getting busted for smoking out again is much greater than the chances of the Dolphins winning a game this year.

Basketball with the Guys

If you know me, you know I'm a soccer and running kind of guy. I even have branched into the realm of (noncompetitive) swimming over the last year. But something I hadn't played in quite a while was basketball. Sure, I'd shoot some baskets at the Y as a way to get warmed up for other activities, but not a game...

...except now that it's cold outside and the weekly soccer pick-up games have ended, I had to find some kind of outlet. Which brings me to basketball. There's a noon pick-up game at the Y for the Crown guys, but they've added me to their e-mail list. It's pretty funny checking e-mail around 10:30 and seeing multiple e-mails with BB in the subject line (everyone just e-mails in their number stating that they'll be there). Today there were two games.

I'd like to say that I'm one of the better players out there, but that would be a lie. I probably am one of the average players out there, at least. And I have a lot of fun. And I usually make some baskets, too. As well as some turnovers and a rebound or two. But what a great way to meet people who aren't already in our church.

I dont' find it all that easy to meet people outside of the church context. It's not hard to "meet" people, per se, but it's hard to get to know them or to do anything with them. That's part of the difficulty in being a pastor. In seminary I was told not to get too close to people in my congregation, and to an extent I understand (to another extent I think that's garbage, but that's another post for another day), but it's rather isolating not having those friendships.

I was talking with a pastor friend around here about friendships - I think there are three levels of "friends" (not just good acquaintences).

Level One
These are the closest friends. They are the Jonathan/David, Naomi/Ruth, or Frodo/Sam kind of friends. They are few and far between. They say a friend will help you move, but a true friend will help you move a body. They will stick with you no matter what.

Level Two
These are good friends. They keep you accountable and encourage you. They're not quite as loyal as level one friends, and they might be shorter term friends or long-distance friends. They are often the type who come in and out of your life and when you get back together, it's like you were never apart. You have a high level of trust with these friends

Level Three
These are your buddies. You hang out with them, help them move, play games and sports with them. I was part of a group like this who would go to Hoggy's and watch Monday Night Football together every week. I have been trying to establish some level three friendships around here, and it's been hard. But perhaps my basketball games can lead to this kind of friendships.

A Sports Post

Normally you could read my blog and wonder if I have any contact with the outside world. I don't. Well, I get the Wapak paper about a day or two late every day. So I guess I don't have any contact with the outside world.

I'm amazed again at how seriously the small town takes high school basketball. Seriously. I wanted to go to an NK game, but who's going to babysit when the entire freaking town is at the game?!?!?! I was laughing at an editorial in the Wapak paper urging businesses to let their employees out at 3 to cheer for the team as they left for their tournament game (yesterday?). I'm not just knocking this area; I remember things being similar when I was a kid in Kokomo.

As for the NCAA tournament -- I heard a lot of complaining about who made it into the tournament. I was listening to Cincinnati radio on Monday after my class, and they called UC's omission fraud, travesty, tragedy, injustice, horrible, and some other choice terms. They also talked about a couple of other teams that "should have" made it in. If they had maybe won more games, then maybe they would have made it in.

And as for the USA being ranked #5 by FIFA... ranks are cheap. Let's see that rank played out on the field in the World Cup.

Study Break

Every once in a while, I need to take a break from working. Today I finished my sermon for Sunday and I'm working on a Bible study on the book of Philippians. I've been working pretty much nonstop all day (ok, I did break for lunch).

So pretty soon, I'll make a trek to the YMCA (don't even sing the song) and get some exercise. I went in the afternoon yesterday and have the following observations:

• 10-12 year old boys with basketballs are pretty funny. I was shooting some baskets before I swam, and as I shot free-throws, the boys started coming in for their practice. One little guy, who had to be the worst one out there, was shooting on the same basket, and he made a shot, so I said, "Nice shot!" Pretty soon I missed a free throw, and he said, "Bad shot!" I felt like swatting his next shot into the next court and coming back with a "Get that weak stuff outta here!" shout. hehehe Other boys were dunking on a very low rim, every one of them hanging on the rim long enough that even LeBron would have gotten a technical foul called. Then there were the two kids who were football-throwing the basketballs from waaaaaaaaaay downtown...
• I can't swim very fast. There was a swim team practicing, and I was right by a lane where there were about 5 girls swimming their laps. When I had my fins on and when I was swimming as fast as I could, I could keep up. Otherwise, byebye.
• Whatever locker I choose to put my stuff - that's where all the teenage boys will also put their stuff. Never fail. I'll come back from the shower to find two or three teenagers all clustered around my locker because they had randomly chosen the lockers right next to mine. Now, I don't mind so much, but I know they don't want to be standing there when I drop the towel.

Swimming

Today I did it. I swam 1 mile. Just seeing the number and the word makes it look pretty short. It doesn't look that far on a computer screen. I used to be able to run that far in 5 minutes (or less, for a short time). However, it took over an hour to swim it. I swam 72 lengths of the pool (I conveniently counted them in 2 groups of 12 sets of 3). It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. After all, I've been swimming 1/2 mile a couple of days a week, and sometimes I'll do some extra. I decided last week, however, that I would swim 1 mile today, and I did it. Now I'm sore and I'm tired, but I'm glad I did it.

I think there are some lessons to be learned here. One is certainly that when I set my mind to do something, I can do it; I do need to take the steps to get there, however. If you'd told me even a month ago that I could swim a mile, I'd have blown you off; I sink, remember? But when I started doing it, I found that I could do more than I thought!

Another lesson is that I need small goals. I don't focus on doing all 72 laps at once. OK, now 71 more. 2 down, only 70 to go... doesn't work all that well. But going at it thinking "I can do this set of 3" is a lot more manageable.

A third lesson is that I told someone last week that today I was going to try to swim a mile. I was pretty tired this morning and it would have been easy to skip (or, better, to just swim my usual 1/2 mile). But I told them I was going to swim a mile, so, darn it, I was going to swim it.

Now I'm going to get back to sermon writing.

Swimming like a...

I have a membership at the Y, and quite often, my workout includes (or is limited to) swimming. My first memories around swimming include filling the "sand"box with water from the hose and playing "rock and roll" in a baby bathtub. Somewhere in there, we graduated to blow-up swimming pools, one of which had two blow-up rings, the other of which had three. I remember being very excited and proud of being able to hold my breath long enough to touch my nose to the bottom of the pool.

Swim lessons at Haworth High School followed. Once the Haworth pool burned my eyes enough that I didn't want to go back. Frequently, I would nearly panic in the diving well (13 feet is pretty deep for a nervous swimmer, though I did just fine as long as I got to swim my laps along the edge of the pool), and then I'd get to go back to the regular pool, where my brother and sister (who went by the names of Ernest and Julio Gallo) were taking their lessons.

Then there were the season pass days -- we sure made those Seashore passes worth it, going for swimming lessons in the morning, open swim in the afternoon, and evening swim after supper. Some days we made all three sessions.

Never have I claimed to be a competitive swimmer. In fact, I swim approximately like a rock. But that doesn't stop me from trying. So today, while the lovely wife did her water aerobics class, I set out to swim laps. I swam 18 laps, which (I think I read correctly) equals 1/4 mile.

There'll be no Iron Man Triathalon for me!!!

It was a beautiful day in my world today.

20 miles of rollerblading. Sunny and in the 70's. Time with my wife. Ahhhhhhhh.

The Big Game...

We had our Super Bowl party last night -- we had 4 area churches represented at the Y for our party, which seemed to be a big hit. Our kids, however, didn't seem to have brought any friends. The whole idea of this was to be an outreach, and I don't know how I could have made it any easier. I mean, it was in a big group environment. It was at a neutral site (so even if their friend doesn't like "church" they can feel free to come), it was fun and games with an evangelistic half-time. And it was free! There was food, there was a huge screen TV, there was basketball and dodgeball...

Yet our kids didn't invite anyone. What do I have to do? Do I have to hold their hands and invite people for them? They are the ones who have the contacts at school, on their teams, etc.

But, that aside, I think it was a success, especially as a first attempt to get our youth groups together. I had a good time, especially playing 4v4 basketball during the 3rd quarter. Yes, I was team captain (wouldn't have been except that nobody else except one kid made the free throw) of the "Old Guys" team. That team included 3 adult leaders and one youth, but that youth was WooTAH, who became a rebounding machine (scored a couple key baskets, too).

So that's done with, and now we're gearing up for the 30 Hour Famine.