Blog Slackin'

Well, it's true. Two weeks in a row I never got to "Ten Things I Think I Think". With the short week, time that had to be spent working on next year's budget proposal, too many hours dealing with the West Ohio Conference office (more on that later), and a house that's about to be filled with family and friends for Thanksgiving, Monday and Tuesday flew by. Given that right now it's just after midnight on Wednesday morning should give you some idea as to how busy this day has been.

So, I've been blog slackin' two weeks in a row. Didn't even get a chance to post a pre-sermon thought or two on Saturday night. I am a neglectful blogger, and I wish to ask your forgiveness. So, without further ado, before I hit the hay, here a few random thoughts....

- It's official... both Max and Xavier will be playing basketball this winter. Since I've coached Max twice, and this is Xavie's inaugural season, I'll be back out at the Naz teaching kindergarteners how to play basketball. I remember the first time I did this when on the first night nobody knew what a lay-up was... pretty quickly I realized that this is a much greater challenge than Phil Jackson or Thad Motta ever faced. Phil deals with Kobe. Thad deals with losing Oden. I deal with endless requests for bathroom breaks and kids who want to run with the ball (wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!). Xavie said he wants to play because (I am not making this up) he gets a snack after every game. It should be a lot of fun... if I don't lose my mind.

- Brother Esq. defeated me handily in Fantasy Basketball, riding the juggernauts of Chris Kamen and Eddy Curry to an impressive victory. Am I worried that this is a harbinger of things to come? Nope. No way Kamen, Curry, and Bonzi Wells (the other guy who had a huge week) last the entire year. Am looking forward to round two in about 11 weeks. I'll get you then, Brother Esq. The judge will find for the plaintiff. You wait and see.

- I just deleted hundreds of words expressing my frustration with my denomination's system of health insurance and ordination because I didn't want to incur anyone's wrath. Sorry you didn't get to read them, but I'm in no position to be prophetic. Hopefully, that day is coming, soon.

- In some respects this has been a very tough year. We lost my mother-in-law in January, and every "first" season/holiday/yearly tradition this year has been hard on the family, particularly my father-in-law (Thanksgiving being no exception). Now, though, we have received the news that Aimee's grandmother is ill with rapidly advancing cancer. Please, in particular, keep Henrietta's husband Sherman, Aimee, Aimee's dad, her brother and sister, and her Aunt Sharon in your prayers. And of course, you might drop a prayer for all of the rest of us in the family who are experiencing our world changing right now just too quickly.

- Our youth ministry held a dodgeball tournament last Sunday afternoon as a fundraiser for our annual Harvest for the Hungry Food Drive. I decided against playing, and instead chose to sponsor my own team, "Bryan Bucher's Dodgeball Kings", which consisted of all junior and senior varsity baseball players from Shawnee High School. A group of older guys, who chose the name (ahem) "Fools for Christ" swore they 'd take my guys out. But my players, competently led by their coach/general manager/team CEO/owner, were swept to victory, defeating the Fools four out of five matches (most of which were not that close). The Fools have sworn revenge at whatever dodgeball tourney might be held in the future, but my Kings have committed to come back, under the watchful eye of their mentor, to continue to dominate the dodgeball landscape of Shawnee and Fort Shawnee townships.

Oh.... and here are five suggestions as to how the Fools could improve their name before the next showdown:

5) Targets for Christ
4) The Weary Laden
3) Swollen and Sore Disciples
2) The Other Cheek Turners
1) The Shawnee Dodgeball Firsts (cause everyone knows the first will become last)

Congrats to my guys for winning it all, me for being smart enough to know that any team that would have me actually play dodgeball is doomed to lose (I'm past my prime.... way past), Fools for Christ for a good showing, all the participants, and volunteers. It was a great event.

- Apparently all that typing you never saw has worn me down. Gotta get to bed. I'll try to post something on the other side of Thanksgiving. Hope you have a good one.

Congratulations Judge Derryberry

Today, Governor Strickland appointed long-time Shawnee UMC member and Administrative Board chairperson, Glenn Derryberry to the bench recently vacated by David Kinworthy. Having known Glenn and his family for more than a decade, I can't tell how how excited I am for him, and for the community. Glenn will make an excellent judge.

Congratulations Judge Derryberry! Thank you for giving of yourself in this way to our community.

Random Thoughts Over Caffeine and Cough Drops

Am sick as a dog today, just like yesterday and day before. Endless coughing, sore throat, sniffling, achy body, fever, etc... I've got it all. Unfortunately, the business of the church waits for no many, so here I am, in my chair, just having finished up the bulletin for Sunday.

Just giving my folks an honest day's work for an honest day's pay.

Anyhow, for the first time in can't remember, I'm skipping "Ten Things I Think I Think" and just going for some random thoughts. Here's hoping they make sense.

- How out of it am I? Well, this morning the PTO at Max's school sponsored its annual "Donuts With Dad" breakfast. I drug myself out of bed early enough, but had a hard time getting the motor started with all the coughing and wheezing and wanting to die. Finally, I pulled myself together, hopped in the shower, threw on a some clothes, grabbed Max, and we hit the road. We were late, but would have made it...

if only I had driven to right school.

3rd and 4th graders in our district go to Maplewood Elementary. K-2nd grade go to Elmwood.
Max is in the 3rd grade. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.

With no hope of making it on time, I did the only thing I could to salvage the situation.

"Instead of 'Donuts with Dad', you wanna stop at McD's and get "Breakfast with Bryan?"

Max was game, and I started off my day with an Egg McMuffin.

- Our annual "Harvest for the Hungry" food drive was a success. To date, we've raised enough in cash and kind to purchase over 1.4 millions pounds for the West Ohio Food Bank. Thank to everyone in the community who participated. I'm sure Bambi and all the rest of the good folks over at the food bank are saying a prayer as their funds for the year are largely depleted. This will do nicely to carry them into 2008.

- Word on the street is that the Columbus Dispatch named the official who missed the Illinois fumble that turned out to be a touchdown, and the official is from here in Lima. I haven't seen the name in the Lima News, and I hope I never do. People who forget that OSU's D couldn't stop Juice Williams in the last eight minutes of the game are likely to do something stupid as a way of taking out their frustration. Considering the team lost most of it's offense last year, not a soul in these parts could have envisioned a better season for the Bucks (even with a schedule padded with patsies like Youngstown State, Akron, and Kent) last August. The team fared well in a lousy conference. Let's just cheer them on as they take on Michigan in the "Big House" Saturday.

- The local UAW representing workers at our Ford plant approved the national labor contract it has with Ford, but turned down the local contract. I didn't realize there were two separate contracts until today. The national contract covers issues like wages and benefits, but the local contract covers issues like use of non-union labor and work rules on the floor (who works where and does what). The Lima plant has, until now, out of fear they would close the plant and go elsewhere, always been ahead of the curve on these issues. Voluntarily the labor at the plant has voted numerous concessions with the idea that with new engines about to come on line, they would be positioned well to be awarded the line by management. No one seems to know why all of a sudden 60% of the local union seems to have decided they've gone as far as they can. It'll be interesting in coming days to find out what's going on.

Back in college, I took a number of classes from a Political Geography prof named James Rubenstein. To be honest, had I known what the heck Political Geography (the study of how stuff is distributed, produced, and consumed) was before I went to college, I would have chosen it as my major. As it was, I didn't take my first PG class until my Junior year (as a part of the social sciences requirement for my Secondary Ed degree), and switching majors would have involved another an extra 1.5 years of classes. Lots of people go to school for six or seven years, but they call those people doctors and lawyers, so I just took as many PG classes as I could before graduation. Rubenstein's class was a study on transportation issues, focusing mainly on automobile industry (his knowledge, of which, is in demand worldwide by all those tied to the building and selling of cars).

I remember him telling us that the real difference between Japanese and American automakers wasn't quality (because the American companies in the early nineties were talking massive new steps toward higher quality... a gap that has largely been closed as of this year). The difference, he said, was that in every 60 seconds a Japanese worker is paid to work, he or she is working 59 of those seconds, while (as of the early eighties) American workers worked about 42 of those seconds (the rest of seconds going into breaks, down time, and the like). And it wasn't that Japanese workers were better than American ones. Honda and Toyota plants in the US employed people on the line who worked the same 59 seconds as their Asian counterparts. All things being the same, the issue was two-fold: the number of breaks an American union auto worker received as opposed to a non-union American auto worker and the unwillingness of the UAW to allow their union members to be "cross-trained" on different tasks needed up and down the assembly line. These two issues, he told us, would be bones of contention between management and labor for years to come.

I think I heard those words back in 1990. How true they appear to ring here in our town in 2007 as work-rules and cross-training (and also the use of non-union labor) appear to be the sticking point. The guy obviously knew his stuff.

- Much ado is being made these days about the forthcoming release of the movie, "The Golden Compass", a movie based on a children's book series about a group of people out to kill the God of Christianity, who is portrayed as a mean dottering fool. Apparently the movie, which is based on a three book series, has been watered down immensely to keep Christian groups at bay (think Ron Howard's movie version of "The DaVinci Code", which was not only watered down, but downright boring) but the fear is that by seeing the movie, children and their parents will be encouraged to buy the books, reading the unvarnished version of one atheist's attempt to undermine the Christian church using fantasy in fiction (a ying to the yang of someone like CS Lewis who did the same thing in his "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" only as a way of winning children and families to Christ).

Now before you get all hot and bothered that somehow I'm one of those people who telling you to stay away from Harry Potter (cause I'm not) because it will inspire your kids to take up witchcraft (highly unlikely), the concern across the Christian spectrum appears to be real. Snopes.com, the website dedicated to unearthing urban legends, confirms that the author of the books, Philip Pullman is an avowed atheist, something that can be confirmed by going no further than his own website, which contains this tidbit from a Q&A section:

His Dark Materials seems to be against organised religion. Do you believe in God?
I don't know whether there's a God or not. Nobody does, no matter what they say. I think it's perfectly possible to explain how the universe came about without bringing God into it, but I don't know everything, and there may well be a God somewhere, hiding away. Actually, if he is keeping out of sight, it's because he's ashamed of his followers and all the cruelty and ignorance they're responsible for promoting in his name. If I were him, I'd want nothing to do with them.

Not much doubt there about how he feels. All of us associated with Christianity, or any formal religion I suppose, are off of Pullman's Christmas Card list. Can't say I'll be buying the books for Max, or taking the boys to see the movie this Christmas. They'll be thinking critically about God, Christ, the church, and the rest on their own soon enough. I'd rather not deal with sort of thing in elementary school. But you can bet I'll be checking out the books at the library to get a sense as how this new breed of angry atheist is spreading his message, this time under the guise of fiction (which is ironic, if you think about it).

- I get the feeling we'll learn quite a bit as Senator Grassley (R - Iowa) begins his investigation of the six televanglists/pastors who have set themselves up for such an investigation by flaunting IRS rules on how non-profit money can be used. Benny Hinn (one of the six) is said to be gearing up the troops and circling the wagons of his ministry, already in financial trouble (despite working toward raising $36 million dollars so he they can buy Benny a new Gulfstream jet), and I'm sure the other five will follow. Joyce Meyers has already come out to say that God gave her all the stuff she has, including a marble commode valued at over $21,000 (wonder if he shipped it UPS or DHL?). I can't wait to hear who these evangelists begin to blame for these investigations. It ought to be rich.

I remember back in 1997 when Michael Pitts, a pastor with a checkered history at a prosperity gospel church, after getting picked up for allegedly exposing himself along a busy street in suburban Toledo, accused other churches in the Toledo area of being jealous and constructing a smear campaign against him for revenge. Strangely enough, Pitts, by name, singled out the church I was serving at the time (Epworth UMC in Ottawa Hills) as one of those churches. Why on earth a streetfront preacher pastoring an independent church would single out a high steeple mainline denominational old money church from the suburbs was beyond me. Maybe he thought like most mainlines we were shrinking and becoming desperate (which wasn't the case). Maybe he just remembered the name cause he and I went to the same high school (his brother was in my class), and had read an article on my recent appointment in the Toledo Blade. Or, maybe he thought we really were out to get him. I guess I'll never know. It provided us with a pretty good laugh, though, the thought of all those late night meetings we were having to somehow take down Michael Pitts... whose church we couldn't find, let alone name. I get the sense that as the heat gets turned up, lots of similar allegations will be made in attempts to explain why, all of a sudden, the checkbooks of these churches and pastors are going to be investigated.

The other weird part of this, though, will be the strange bedfellows this is going to create. As the Senate continues its investigation, I'm sure that I will begin receiving many emails warning us pastors of how this is just the first step toward all churches being stripped of their tax-exempt status, and that all of us need to do something about it. Thus, those of us who really want to see this whole prosperity gospel thing get nipped in the bud, will be asked to take up the fight to defend these very same "evangelists", "apostles", and "bishops" in the name of protecting ourselves.

So, this thing will get more interesting with time. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Alright... back to coughing my head off.

Random Thoughts

- Good crowd for Bible study tonight, but as to whether or not attendance holds remains up in the air. Saw some eyes rolling back into heads and a few glazed expressions. But we have to do some of this historical stuff to get to the fun stuff. Hopefully people will hang on. We'll see what happens.

- I suppose as I right Girls Gone Wild is doing its thing in Ada. I hear there's a protest scheduled to start in front of the bar where the event is going down, so I'm going to check the news tonight to see what went down (if anything). I still can't believe that local officials will sit back while the town's young women bare themselves for cameras. I have to believe that would qualify as lewd behavior in Ada, Ohio. Playing certain Billy Joel albums on your stereo is probably classified as lewd behavior in Ada, Ohio. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

- It was 80 degrees two days ago. Today its raining and in the high fifties. Welcome to Ohio.

- I'm supposed to be eating healthier, working out, and losing weight as during my last physical it was discovered that my cholesterol and blood pressure are both up. Of course, today, the Older Adult ministry at their monthly luncheon had a "pie baking contest". What can I say.. I took one for the team.

- Saw an old rerun of "WKRP in Cincinnati" last night. It's the episode where Mr. Carlson decides to give away Thanksgiving turkeys to people in Cincinnati as a promo. I'll let Les Nessman describe the "greatest turkey event in Thanksgiving Day history" to you:



- As per a couple of suggestions and my own sense that my family would love them as gifts, I am contemplating self-publishing a book containing the top 75-80 posts from this blog, and some new stuff I'll write for the heck of it. I talked to the publishing company (a local Christian publisher called CSS) which has been trying to get me to write for them for a couple of years, and they're willing to work with me. I'm just thinking of printing a couple hundred books, just to say I did it, maybe raise a few extra bucks, and have something tangible to hold after more than 275 posts over the last couple of years. But here's the thing: I was asked what "market research" I'd done on this project.

So, any interest in there in paying $8 for something you could get for free? It's be a great Christmas present for that person who know you have to buy for but you don't have the time to shop for. Let me know via comments or email what you think.

- It's late and a bowl of Raisin Bran is calling my name. Catch you tomorrow.

Random Thoughts

- The funeral for Christian Neff yesterday was very nice. Charlotte did a nice job of weaving the story of his life (which had a number of chapters: young boy, high school student, soldier, etc...) by inviting a lot of different people to share memories. Between that, the lovely music, a call for peace, and the hauntingly beautiful walk back to the graveside service, not much else could have been said or done to properly celebrate Chris' life. I was blessed.

- A number of rumors were circulating about the Westboro Baptist "Church" (they're the people who believe that God does bad things to people because he's angry about homosexuality) conducting a picket of the funeral, which created a lot of anger and chaos in the Shawnee community. Must have received 50 different phone calls from area law enforcement officers, media people, concerned citizens, and church members about the issue. A woman even stopped me yesterday morning before the funeral to ask if it would be a good idea for her to keep her son from from our pre-school.

Well, to no surprise to me, even though the church on their website said they were going to show up at the "Shawnee Methodist Dog Kennel" (that's how they listed us... guess that makes me the Top Dog) in a press release on their website, they never showed. My guess is that, according to a more detailed schedule on the site that they keep and their past history, that they have a person who does nothing but follow soldier deaths via the internet so they can make a threat about arriving at a funeral. They'd like you to think they have the power to be in a Florida, Virginia, Ohio, and Nebraska all on the same couple of days (as what was promised this week), but in all reality, the "church" is only the extended family of Fred Phelps.. a disbarred lawyer who fancies himself to be the world's leading bible scholar. It is only because the gifts and abilities of a man who married into family to be able to create creative media, web-design, and frame the message with a marketing strategy most Fortune 500 companies would pay big bucks for, that the family has any kind of national standing at all. Too bad his gifts are being wasted on a message of hate.

In any event, we were ready for them. The Patriot Guard was there to create a barrier between the WB"C" and the family. The police already had developed a strategy to allow the picketers to do their thing (which is protected by the Constitution) while keeping things under control. And, quite frankly, I was more worried about what would could happen to the family (as the mood of peace which enveloped the crowd would have been disturbed with people carrying signs praising God for doing horrible things) or to the picketers (folks in these parts don't suffer fools gladly, and an injury or death to a member of the WB"C" would only strengthen their resolve and intensify their message) than anything else. I'm just glad nothing happened.

- We have been nursing sick boys at our house all week. Between the stomach flu (and all that involves), colds, and fevers, there hasn't been much uninterrupted sleep at the Bucher house. We kept Max home from a soccer tournament today, which proved fortuitous because he just tossed his cookies (this time in the toilet... thank goodness) yet another time. Such is as it is for parents of children... you just gotta take the good with the bad, loving one another through life. Prayer for good health, though, would be greatly appreciated.

- We, more than likely, will find out the gender of our gestating child this week. Every woman who know us, I think, is pulling for a girl (to offset all the testosterone in the house). Aimee and I just want healthy and happy. A little girl would be nice (I'm sure she'd wrap me around her finger and probably drive me to buy a gun when she became a teenager), but we know how to raise boys, so we're down with that too. Aimee just brought home little onesies and baby rattles. God is good.

- Will probably watch the game with Dad tonight. Go Bucks, beat the Gophers.

Have a nice weekend.

An Inconvenient Truth

Today, my wife is at an overcrowded swim and tennis club here in Beantown, sitting around all day to watch Max swim in two events. Tomorrow, I get my turn to do the same, except Max will swim three events and I'll probably be timing instead of sitting. But otherwise, it's going to be long day.

There are probably more efficient ways to do the WOAL Championships than crowding hundreds of swimmers, and that many more parents, family members, friends, and volunteers into cramped quarters for two full days. Why they can't do two age groups each (8&under & 9-10, 11-12 and 13-14, and then all the old kids) at the three clubs here in Lima (Sherwood, Westside, and Shawnee CC) is beyond me. You could get the whole thing done in a day, and probably half a day at that.

But, for whatever reason, humans often like, maybe even need, to be inconvenienced in overcrowded quarters with too many people per square foot. Or as I'd like to call it, "An Inconvenient Truth" (ha ha). I say this cause every time I time tell someone older than I am that we'll be at Championships this weekend, they groan, talk about how long and hot they are, express how thankful that they don't have to do it anymore, but always end the conversation talking about how much fun the kids, and they, had. It's like a right-of-passage for middle class parents in this community.

Speaking of Al Gore, could there have been any less excitement around the Live Earth concerts to raise awareness about global warming... which just brings to mind the scene of Madonna screaming out "Change your ways before the ice caps melt", right before she sings "Material Girl", or Kanye West launching into a diatribe about how global warming is destroying the earth right before he does "Golddigger". I mean, Jackson Browne doing a "No Nukes" benefit, or Willie Nelson doing Farm Aid made sense. Both guys write a lot of serious songs, and put time and energy into the causes they believe in, so the concerts they did, or do, just kind of come out of their own conviction. But you kind of lose something when the awareness for the cause is left in the hands of UB40. Can't say as I can remember an environmental message in "Red Red Wine" or "Smoke It".

And I wonder if when Xzhibit came out on stage, he started by saying, "This is X to the Z, Xzhibit, and I'm bout to Pimp Your Climate".

But, I suppose that doing something is better than nothing. It's just maybe all those artists could have done something a little more practical, like committing to using tour buses that run on bio diesel.

But I digress....

Humans like, on occasion to be inconvenienced, especially if they are gathering in some sort of tribal fashion, where people and achievements are celebrated. I remember as a college student, squeezing into a corner booth packed with my friends, talking, congregating, laughing, singing ("Piano Man", most any Steve Miller song, and "Wheel In the Sky" being our favorites), and just generally enjoying one another's company. To give you some idea as to how powerful these experiences can be, last May on the evening before my Clergy Session in Columbus, I gathered with two old college chums - Wayno and Steph - and all anyone had to do was mention those "old days", and smiles burst wide on all faces. Sure there were the tales that come from misspent youth, but the real depth of the experience was in the time spent together and it made no difference if there were twice as many people in that tight, cramped space than I'm sure the fire marshal would have allowed. The point was the celebration of relationship, and the grip that need, and the memories of that need being fulfilled, have on us (which in our case, was underscored that night when we realized that that those days we had together occurred before our waitress was born... nothing like getting old).

As I think about this, I am reminded of my favorite Thanksgiving, ever. It occurred in my last year at Shawnee when Aimee and I lived next door to the church in the since demolished parsonage (which we semi-affectionately nicknamed "The Shack"). I don't know what possessed us that year to invite both our families (27 people in all) to our tiny home for Thanksgiving dinner. We had no business, really, even thinking we could shoehorn all those people into our house. But that day, I remember, was filled with card games, laughter, football, a group of guys washing dishes using an industrial dishwasher my brother-in-law fixed with a matchbook and a shoe (cause secretly, he's MacGuyver), and a lot of people having a great time. The space, or lack there of, and inconvenience, didn't really seem to matter that day. And when we tried to do the same thing at our church in Toledo next Thanksgiving - where we had tons of space and a state of the art everything at our disposal - it wasn't a quarter of meaningful or fun. It was as if it was a bigger deal when we had crawl over ten people to wait in line to use the only bathroom in the house.

All that to say this: This need to gather, reconnect, and celebrate is, I believe, innate to us all. Hence the need for real, authentic, corporate worship where people not only enjoy one another, but complete the circle by also basking in the presence of God's grace and love. Sure, it's a pain getting up early, or taking time out of your schedule on a Saturday night. Sure, Sunday might be the only morning you get to sleep in, and who wants to spoil that by having to force three boys from a Pokemon re-run and into dress clothes. But spiritually, people need this kind of interaction. They need to make the sacrifice of personal space and time, and remember again what it is that makes being human great: the time we get be together and with the Lord. And like everything, the more crowded worship is, in most cases, the more memorable and fun we remember it. That's why I treasure those packed out Candlelight Services at Trinity I went to as a kid, the old Youth Sundays in the sanctuary at Shawnee, and worship in packed Life Center on the third night of CVC. Just to be with so many others, all ready to worship, even though its too hot, or too crowded, or maybe a fire hazard, impacts the soul.

Throw in that the world gets changed in the process through our collective prayer, effort, and giving... and you get a great experience.

So anyhow, I hope to catch you at church this Sunday, wherever you are, crammed into a pew between the guy who sings "How Great Thou Art" too loud and off key and the woman who thinks your kid is the most adorable child, EVER! And may you, over time, build memories and a fondness for them, as you are yoked together by the Spirit of the Living God, who calls us in humility, to mutual serve and enjoy one another....

Remember that on Sunday, while you thank God that you survived those days of misspent youth, so you could enjoy the gift of this moment.

And as for the WOAL Championships... well, I say, leave 'em alone, so we can participate in the fun now, and thank heavens later that they are but a (mostly) pleasant memory, that someday will make us groan and smile.

P.S. Just as I was making this post, the wife called to let me know that Max's 100 Meter Medley Relay just won a silver medal, and ended the phone call with, "I am having a great time out here today!" And she made the phone call using a cell phone of friends of ours from church she's been hanging out with all day. Couldn't have been more appropriate, or timely.

Slacker

Sorry to have disappeared on everyone. After a hectic weekend, a two-day trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee with our friends the Lairs, a lovely motorcycle ride to Columbus, and an evening with some old friends from college (Steph and Wayne), I've just not had time to make an update. But I promise a full "Ten Things..." tomorrow (either early if the Convention Center here in Columbus has wireless access, or late when I'm at my folks) with all that's been happening in last week.

Thanks for your patience.

A Temporary Hiatus

Right now, I'm afraid, is not a good time to be blogging. Lots of stuff due, another trip the end of this week in Connecticut, and a pending dissertation proposal hearing are squeezing me something fierce. Hence, I'll be laying off the posts for about a week or so, and then I'll be back.... I promise.

Thanks for understanding.

He's Reverand Doctor John Ross to you, but he'll always be JR to me

Here's a cool thing. Check out this YouTube clip...



Pretty nice words in a pretty prestigious setting. Hard to believe eleven or twelve years ago, John and I were both guys playing solitaire on our laptops during some nameless seminary class.

Strange, but true.

While working as a youth pastor at the First Community Church of Columbus, John (JR) Ross attended the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, which is where he earned his MDiv. Back in those days, since JR was the only guy I knew pastoring a rather large youth ministry, I used to pepper him questions and soak up whatever I could learn. He was even gracious enough to invite me to his church to come see how things worked. Needless to say, I copied and stole with great abandon from him, and if you enjoyed youth group at Shawnee, Epworth, or Goshen First, you should thank him for helping me see some light.

SHORT NOTE TO MY MIAMI ALUM READERS: JR is actually a graduate of Miami, and I think graduated a couple of years before I did (which was in the glorious year of 1991). Let it be known that he and his wife are a "Miami Merger", and that she is a former "Chuck Chick". She was one of the angels who saved you from starvation after serving you up a Chuckburger and Chuckfry at 2:37am in the morning.

Hmmm.... Chuckburgers!

Of course, John went on to bigger and better things. Wayzata Community Church is a long-standing, well-respected congregation that among other things, brings in authors and thinkers like Deepak Chopra, Marcus Borg, and Jim Wallis to speak in the community. Proud of it's UCC affiliation, I think you could call it one of finest mainline congregations in the country.

Why bring all of this up, besides being a name dropper?

Well, remember that phrase about JR going to Mexico every year since 1996 to build houses for the poor? I remember a conversation way back in seminary where JR was really wrestling with the possibility of not doing a long-standing, annual ski trip to Colorado, and going to Mexico to build houses (I believe) through Agape Ministries (but don't quote me) instead. He couldn't just add a trip in the summer because FCC of Columbus owned a summer camp, which he administrated, so it was either Spring Break or bust for a missions experience. Long story short, he took the plunge, and within a couple of years he was taking hundreds to kids to Mexico, and I never heard about Colorado again.

Now, he's lauded for it on the floor of the House. Amazing!

Anyhow, he's doing good stuff in suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul. If you live in the area, know that he's the real deal (same guy now as he was in seminary, just older and wiser). You could do no better in the way of a pastor, than the Reverend Doctor John Ross.

Just call him JR.

A Pastor Backs Down...

For those who were unaware, a bit of drama has been unfolding in the city of Seattle over the past couple of weeks. Mark Driscoll (the anti-Rob Bell Jr.), founding pastor of Mars Hill Church, a huge mega-church that practices something called "Resurgence Missional Theology" landed in a bit of hot water when, in the course of sharing his thoughts about the the Ted Haggard situation, wrote this as a word to young pastors who he mentors through his "Acts 29 Network"...

"Most pastors I know do not have satisfying, free, sexual conversations and liberties with their wives. At the risk of being even more widely despised than I currently am, I will lean over the plate and take one for the team on this. It is not uncommon to meet pastors’ wives who really let themselves go; they sometimes feel that because their husband is a pastor, he is therefore trapped into fidelity, which gives them cause for laziness. A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband in the ways that the Song of Songs is so frank about is not responsible for her husband’s sin, but she may not be helping him either." (as posted on his blog, Resurgence)

First time I read that I thought... "Uh, did he just suggest that the blame for the Ted Haggard situation is Ted's wife for 'letting herself go'? I can't imagine too many people are going to agree with this."

Highly theological or well-developed my thoughts were not. But, like most things, I clicked off the blog, and went back to work. Imagine my surprise a couple of weeks later to find out that other people did not just "click off" or "move on".

Mark, who I call the anti-Rob Bell, partly because if you've ever heard Rob Bell speak you'll know how sensitive the guy is, and partly because Driscoll has openly ridiculed Bell for not upholding the kind of values he believes Christian men should uphold (i.e. not sensitivity). Thus, Driscoll is famous of deriding men for having become "chickified" and "limp wristed" and for women to accept traditional roles of child-rearing and staying-at-home. In a city as progressive as Seattle, his comments on gender roles, thanks to his blog and the fact that he wrote a column for the local newspapers, for years he's been an object of derision in Starbucks City's blogosphere. I'd link you some examples of this, but, quite frankly, many of them are quite profane (the blog responses, not Driscoll's original posts).

But nothing Driscoll has ever said about gender roles, women in ministry (very opposed), or anything else generated the heat as that quote I listed above. The response was quick and immediate. A group calling itself "People Against Fundamentalism" formed and asked for a formal meeting with Mark and his Elders to explain what they called the latest, and most offensive statement, in a series of what was now be termed "misogynistic" statements".

Uh oh... even Mark realized immediately that this was some kind of trouble he'd never experienced before. While he did offer a kind of quasi-apology on his blog, he never re-tracted his statement, nor did agree to any meeting. This led to PAF scheduling a protest outside of one of Mars Hills' worship campuses for December 3rd, demanding that the Seattle Time fire him as a columnist, and the Elders of Mars Hill release Mark as their Senior Pastor.

Pretty soon, the situation moved off of blog pages and into those of various local newspapers. PAF soon found itself being endorsed from a number of different quarters, and the Elders at Mars Hill wondered what it would be like for families taking their children to church past protesters picketing the worship service. In the meantime, women started coming forward with stories about how abused they had felt (not physically) while attending Mars Hill. Here's an account in a blog written by a female pastor who had met with many of these women, and her attempts to try and meet with Driscoll to talk about the situation: http://www.monkfish-abbey.org/blog/20060308/grid-blog-for-international-womens-day-hammer-time/

With the day of the protest nearing, and this story gathering steam locally, my guess is that considerable pressure was placed on Driscoll, who I'm sure didn't want this kind of publicity either, to try and get this thing resolved. Finally, two days before the protest, Mark and some Elders sat down with a group assembled by PAF, and there he formally apologized, and promised to use different language to say what it was he was trying to say not only in his church, but also in the various venues where he has a voice. He also resigned from the Seattle Times, who was ready to remove him anyway. Apparently, one pastor, a female from the local Vineyard Church, an evangelical/Pentecostal-esque movement that emerged out of the Jesus Movement in the early seventies, made a particularly profound impression on Mark. Her name is Rose Madrid-Swetman. Here are her thoughts on this situation.

Anyhow, crisis averted, for now, but given Driscoll's record (just take a look at his blog... go back far enough and you'll find the "Born Against Christian" T-Shirt for sale) I get the sense that maybe this thing isn't over.

More Interesting IP Addresses

Visitors. We get visitors. We get lots and lots of visitors. Over 7600 since the blog started. So many that two of my free site meters kind of went on the fritz, and now I'm on my third. Who are they, and where do they all come from? Not sure, but based on some IP addressed and how they ended up on "The Office", here's another small sampling:

Suger Land, Texas

New Knoxville, Ohio: Check out this blog. It's written by the pastor of the New Knoxville UMC. He found my blog, I'm assuming, looking for details on the presidential crisis at Asbury (he's a grad), and kept on coming back. He must be a pretty cool dude, as he listed Metallica, Chris Tomlin, Bob Marley, and The Smiths as being musical influences. You'll enjoy his take, immensely.

North Hollywood, California (search words: "Brady Quinn's Sister")

Stockbridge, Georgia (search words: aaron wymer)

Dallas, Texas

London, United Kingdom (a re-occuring IP address directly linked to the blog... how cool is that?)

Qubec, Quebec

Downers Grove, Illinois (search words: "Bart Campolo")

St. Louis, Missouri (directly linked)

Tipp City, Ohio (search words: "my space ginghamsburg")

Orlando, Florida (search words: "akeela and the bee our greatest fear")

Allentown, Pennsylvania: They are living there in Allentown, where they're closing all the factories down, out in Bethlehem their killing time, filling out forms and standing in line... or so Billy Joel tells me.

Omaha, Nebraska (search words: "carlton pearson reacts to ted haggard"): Yeah, if you read the post entitled "Hell", and followed the links to watch the "Dateline" segment on Carlton Pearson, you'll know that because they both attended Oral Roberts University at the same time, NBC went to Ted Haggard (pre-scandal) to get a quote on Pearson's take on the afterlife. One of the more ironic interviews ever given.

London Ontario (search words: "bruxy cavey"): Lots of people have been searching for info on Bruxy and ending up here. His is a name you will hear more and more in North America.

Greensboro, North Carolina (search words: elijah "carlton pearson" - elijah list"): Don't ask me.. I have no idea.

Denver, Colorado

Ada, Ohio (Hi Cecily!)


Technorati Profile

Random Thoughts On A Lazy Saturday Morning

Special thanks on the video clip to Susanna Donald. Check out her blog!



One more day of rest, too much TV, Thanksgiving leftovers (as good as the original meal itself, as far as I'm concerned... am jonesing for Turkey sandwich as we speak), one last important college football game before the bowl bids are determined (I pick USC... SEC fans, your championship game is an after-thought now thanks to Arkansas loss yesterday), and a sermon tomorrow at Shawnee...

...then it's back to the Greater Wilmore Metropolitan Area and fifty-plus trains a day. On the subject of trains, here's an article posted just for my Beeson compadres: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OH_LISTENING_TO_TRAINS_OHOL-?SITE=WBNSTV&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Here are a few random thoughts though, on a lazy Saturday morning:

- Took my father-in-law's Harley out for a spin yesterday. Don't know what was more amazing... time on a motorcycle (my first since the summer) or that the day was nice enough for a ride? A soul-stirring experience.

- For those curious, my mother-in-law came home from the hospital Tuesday, and yesterday Aimee helped her make a Thanksgiving meal. She finds out Monday if the chemo is making a dent in the liver cancer, so please keep praying.

- Fred and Kathy Diehl, my aunt and uncle, returned home to West Palm Beach today after a nice visit this week. It was great to see them, and I know The Great One has enjoyed their company immensely. A very nice Thanksgiving treat.

- I am discovering that my Dad has this maddening habit of clicking incessantly through endless cable channels, settling on some bizarre program, and then falling asleep. Three nights ago we ended up on a special on all the Presidents (Andrew Johnson, US Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes until I could take no more), and the night-before-last we ended up on some show on MTV featuring a tiny little skateboarder and huge African-American fellow who are good buddies (the episode featured them at a dietitian's office because the skateboarder is worried about the huge fellow's health.... never thought anyone would spend money producing a show where two people argue about "portion control", but such is this era of reality TV). Last night we ended up watching "What Not To Wear".

Conclusion? Not having cable tv isn't such a bad thing after all.

- Have been asked repeatedly, so here you go...

Top Ten Things I Want For Christmas Since World Peace Isn't Easily Gift-Wrapped:

1) A new electric shaver: Eli threw mine into the garbage can... we think. No big deal though as I bought it for a dime at the Shawnee Women's Rummage Sale in 1993. I think I got my money out of it.
2) A Pete Johnson "Legends of Ohio State" football jersey.
3) John Grisham's new novel.
4) Cheap tools from Big Lots.
5) New travelmugs I can leave on the desk of my study carrel
6) Babysitting for one evening so Aimee and I can eat a dinner at a place not featuring a clown as a mascot and watch a movie not animated.
7) Snow
8) Riding gloves.
9) An evening of bowling with my boys.
10) World Peace (a guy can hope and pray)

- In case you were wondering, some places out of the last hundred hits on this blog where people were located when they decided to dial in:

Gainesville, Georgia (search words: tony campolo universalism)
Hickory, North Carolina
San Francisco, California
Martinsville, New Jersey
Zelienople, Pennsylvania (search words: jeff greenway)
Norwalk, Ohio (search words: upwards basketball willard ohio)
Abidjan, Cote' De Ivory (Ivory Coast)
Bratislava, Slovakia
Seattle, Washington (search words: oxford round table)
Northhampton, Massachusettes (search words: ho-ag devo)
Orlando, Florida (search words: aaron wymer)
Palm Bay, Florida (search words: amber heistan)
Ayr, Ontario (search words: bruxy cavey)
Milton Keynes, United Kingdom (search words: sandy millar healing)
Monument, Colorado
San Jose, California
Omaha, Nebraska (search words: kohli and kahlier)
Salt Lake City, Utah (Hi, Aunt Beth!)

Asbury for Dummies (part 1)

These are some notes for the first chapter of my dissertation

Francis Asbury was born just outside of Birmingham, England on either August 21 or 22, 1845 (according to his journal, he was sure of the exact date). At a young age, Asbury's sister, Sarah, died unexpectedly, his mother, Susan found comfort by becoming increasingly more religiously active. During that day, a number of religious "reformers" were paring their spiritual wares across the English countryside, and the Asburys were known to host them in their home for services. Francis grew up around preachers, prayers, and was schooled in the ways of holiness. As a result he grew up a very pious young man.

After six years taking formal educational training, Asbury, at the age fourteen, dropped out and apprenticed with a local man in a trade that's never been fully identified (button making is a possibility). It was during this apprenticeship that Asbury first heard a Wesleyan Methodist preacher, and his heart found its destiny. Asbury joined a local Methodist Class Meeting (a small group of people who came together for fellowship, to examine their own and on another's spiritual lives, study the scriptures, pray, and collect money to support the Methodist's work with the poor). In Class Meetings, members were encouraged to speak, or exhort, and before long Asbury gained a reputation for being a passionate, if uneducated, speaker. In time, he was invited to speak at other class meetings, and after serving as an assistant to one of the traveling lay preachers, John Wesley himself took Asbury to be one of his own assistants. There, to compensate for his lack of education, Asbury was instructed to read the many tomes published by Wesley (hundred and hundreds) on all subjects relating to the Bible, theology, church polity, Greek and Hebrew, and skads of church and world history.

Asbury over time, gained a reputation for being an ardent Methodist and a fine lay preacher. The only complaint his superiors could make of him was that he often had a lot of suggestions as to how the movement could be better organized, and often began making changes without any OK fromt he hierarchy. Wesley ruled with an iron hand, and expected the same of his cheif deputies, so this ended up buying Asbury a great deal of trouble.

Of course.... it also caught Wesley's eye.

By 1772, the Methodist movement in the American colonies was growing, but lacked any true form or structure. Only two Methodist missionaries had traveled from England to the new land, and they were firmly ensconced in circuits working out of Baltimore and Philadelphia. Captain Thomas Webb, a retired member of the British army now living in New York, a man who had converted to Christianity through the Methodist movement, was the big mover and shaker in the new world. He raised money. He helped organize class meetings. He supported Methodist lay preachers in every way imaginable. And finally, out of frustration, traveled to England to tell Wesley that more Methodist lay preachers were needed in the new world.

Wesley called a conference of all his ordained an lay preachers, and asked for volunteers to go. Only two stepped forward.... another guy who shortly would return back to England, and Francis Asbury. Immediately, Asbury went to Bristol where Wesley's main headquarters was, raised the necessary money, said good-bye to his family, and traveled to America. He would never return.

Asbury, because of his lack of education and a formal ordination as a minister in the Church of England, probably would have faded somewhat into obscurity had it not been for the American Revolution. Because all things tied to Britain were viewed with a fair amount of suspician by the colonists, and because John Wesley came out formally opposed to the revolution (much to Asbury's dismay... he wished that Wesley had just remained mute on the subject), Methodist preachers were often treated rudely and violently. This caused Wesley in 1778 to call all of his missionaries back home (there numbers had grown to eight), of which seven complied.

Asbury couldn't bear leaving the American Methodist church. He had working as a lay preaching in the area of Baltimore, and had been instrumental in orgainizing conferences among preachers up and down the coast. Inspired by the rapid growth of the movement, despite the opposition caused by the political climate, he felt "compelled by God" to stay. Thus, by 1783, Asbury was the only formal voice representing Wesley in America.

At the conclusion of the war, America, now an independent nation, wanted nothing to do with the "Mother Country", and Asbury knew it. Because so few ordained Church of England ministers lived in the country, and Methodist lay preachers were not allowed to perform the sacriments, lay preachers ached to give communion and baptize their followers and not no means to accomplish the tasks. Wesley, out of his own personal study of what "apostolic succession" meant, decided that presbyters (ordained ministers in the Church of England) could not only ordain new presbyters, but could also raise up "superintendents" to organize the presbyters. This caused a great stir, because in the Anglican church, only Bishops could ordain ministers and choose their superintendent superiors. Even John's brother, Charles, couldn't stomach John's idea, because he was making himself, de facto, a Bishop who could ordained and organize the church which violated Anglican polity.

But, undetered, John Wesley determined that Thomas Coke, an ordained Anglican minister should be the superintendent of the American wing of the Methodist Church, and sent him there to ordain ministers in what would become a free-standing American Methodist Episopal Church. Upon arriving, at the Christmas Conference of 1784, Coke not only started ordaining Methodist ministers, he also made Asbury a superintendent in the church, subordinate only to Coke. Six months later, Coke went home, leaving Asbury as the man in charge.

Because he had been traveling extensively thoughout the country to give the church some order, Asbury knew practically every preacher and class leader. He wasn't in American long before he realized that if new converts were to be made, a system where churches were planted and served by a pastor had to be avoided at all cost. In the 1780's, fewer than 3% of America's population lived in cities of 8,000 or more. Mostly, they lived in rural areas, and were moving further and further west out on the frontier. Asbury, understanding this perfectly, passionately fought the idea of "urban, settled pastors", and given his immense power, there would be none of these in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Instead, class meetings and local churches scattered across the country were organized into "circuits". Lay preachers were assigned to the circuits, generally anywhere from 9 to 14 class meetings and or churches. These lay preachers, or Circuit Riders, created a schedule where by every single stop on the circuit would be visited once a month for the purpose of checking the class meetings roles, settling up finanical matters, resolving disputes, administering the sacraments, and (most important) firing up the faithful and reaching new converts through spirited preaching and worship.

Asbury, in a given year's time, resolved to visit every single one of these every single year, a feat made possible only by his remaining on horseback 6,000 miles per year through every conceivable mountain pass, swamp, and form of weather imaginable. After years of this, Asbury would remain in poor health (although it rarely deterred him from his schedule) but his knowledge of the geography and demography of the land became unparelled. Thus, Asbury always seemed to know how new circuits would work, where to find a new preacher to serve it, and where that preacher (based on their gifts, skills, and health) would need to serve next.

Thus, Asbury set about formally organizing the church so that it could continue to grow with the country. He organized the circuits into "districts", appointing a "superintendent" who not only served a church of his own but also was expected to preach in new places to new people, to help train new circuit riders, class leaders, and administrate the churches. This was important because all circuit riders, superintendents, and Asbury himself were paid from a central fund. The superintendents were essential in collecting money (mostly raised through the selling of books published by the fledgling denomination's publishing house in Baltimore) raised to send to the central administration, who then paid everyone quarterly. The rest of the money was used to fund the creation of new circuits and support infirm Methodist preachers and subsequently their widows.

The districts were then organized into "conferences" so given the name because once a year a "conference" of all clergy would be scheduled for worship (the foundation of what would become the "camp meeting movement"), to vote on matters of adminsitrative importance (Asbury, unlike Wesley, understood that decisions could not handed down unilaterally in a nation possessed by the idea of democracy, so every Methodist preacher was given voice and vote in all these matters), and ultimately serve as the place where Asbury, who traveled to each of these meetings, would announce what circuits pastors would be assigned for the next two years. Asbury believed that given the differing nature of each circuit, that the preachers serving them needed to be changed every two years. Sometimes a preacher was assigned because the circuit was just starting and needed a firery leader to get it going, and that preacher was the "firery type". Other times, the sheer physical demands of the circuit had worn out a circuit riding preacher, so Asbury would assign them to a less-physicallly demanding circuit where they could recover.

And I mentioned that preachers had voice and vote in every administrative matter effecting them, and this is true, even in the case of appointments. Asbury even announced at the beginning of each "annual conference" that preacher who wanted special considerations to be taken into account before Asbury made the assignements, could put what they wanted in writing, and hand it to Asbury a couple of days before those appointments were made. But Asbury was no democrat... not really. A man who changed his title from "General Superintendent of the American Methodist Episcopal Church" to it's one and only "Bishop" (a title John Wesley refused to give himself... in his last letter to Asbury he dressed him down for doing so) really wanted as much control as possible. So, as a means of effecting that control, Asbury would wait until the last possible minute to announce his appointments, take a vote, and immediately leave town... and those asking for special considerations in appointments often found themselves geographically hundreds of miles away from the place they had asked to be. Since there was no time for a grievence process (remember, it was the last thing they did at each conference), pastors learned to keep their mouths shut and hope for the best.

All of this information nobody in their right mind has read (if you've gotten this far, you either have nothing else to do or like reading absurdly reduced history... may God have mercy on your sould) and for what....... just to say this.

1) The system of Bishops, District Superintendents, and appointed local church pastors in charge of Annual Conferences, Districts, and local churches was largely Asbury's creation.

2) Methodists, particularly United Methodists who are largely direct descendents of Asbury's Methodist Episcopal Church, got the reputation for moving preachers around a lot largely because Asbury, out of necessity had to move what leaders he had to keep the movement growing as the country grew and keep his preachers alive.

3) Vestiges of "don't tell the Bishop where you want to go cause they'll move you in the opposite direction" still exist until this day in various quarters of the UMC. Stories of pastors showing up at Annual Conference as late as the 1970's not knowing if they'd be going home to work or pack until the final day of the meeting are legion among retirees. Because they unilaterally determined appointments made ME, and later UM Bishops were far more powerful as episcopal leaders than Bishops in Anglican or Episcopalian denominations.

I remember a story (I don't know if it's true) that a now retired UM pastor from the West Ohio Conference told me about Bishop Werner who ruled the roost in the late 1950's and 60's. Apparently when the denomination purchased land for the purpose of establishing a church camp facility near Bellefontaine (now, Camp Wesley), it was determined that a man-made pond was needed to make the complex complete. Thus, for a number of summers, Werner made it mandatory that all Methodist preachers had to take a week in the summer, travel to Camp Wesley, and help, among other building projects, dig out the pond.

Power like this led to schisms creating numerous denominations (Wesleyan and Free Methodist to name a couple) where the power of the Bishop was muted, or the position was eliminated all-together.

4) Despite the best efforts of his opponents who opposed his Episcopal, centralized model (critics accused Asbury of secretly wanting to be a "Methodist Pope") Asbury, largley out of his knowledge of every facet of the church, and of the nation as a whole, became too well-known and popular to be defeated on these matters. But Asbury was pragmatic enough to realize that the "my-way-or-the-highway" model John Wesley employed in Britian wasn't going to fly in a fledgling nation built on democracy. The Annual Conference and General Conference models where originally all ordained preachers would gather to vote on all matters of importance was Asbury's concession to this reality. It was largley though the appointment process and his own reputation that Asbury was able to largely control the system. That Bishops emulated Asbury in terms of how they saw their power largely, over time became as much traditional as it was disciplinary.

5) Lay-people from the inception of the American wing of the movement, have not much say in the appointment of pastors in the UMC. Much of this derives from Asbury's belief that the Congregational "call" model led to lazy preachers serving self-centered churches who hired them to do their beck and call. Asbury also realized that once a pastor married and had kids, their tendancy was to want to settle down and become "locational", thus the system of appointment began to tend toward methodist preachers owning few things in the world, and the church providing housing so that moves could be made quickly and cheaply. This conditioned the laity to not look for a particular circuit rider, but a particular time that a circuit rider would show up. As a result, the class meeting and local churches were instructed to be somewhat self-supporting and self-leading with the guidelines set by the ME Discipline. Laity focused energy on raising up new class or church leaders (the most promising would often be encouraged to become circuit riders) who's main function was biblical instruction, spiritual guidance, and exhorting (which is, basically, preaching). Thus, the laity were "freed up" to do ministry, not be served by someone as a professional pastor.

6) Asbury's system of appointment was designed for a world where 97% of the population lived in the most remote locations. Because Asbury himself realized what the toll all the traveling took on the traveller (he paid a horrible price personally for all his time on the road, as he was often in poor health which often took its toll on his state of mind.... Asbury was often a pretty depressed dude because he felt like his infirmaties limited his ability and passion for Christ and his church) this had great bearing on how his Circuit Riders were appointed. What's more, the movement was growing so quickly and geographically huge, many moves were made necessary just because the demand for new superintendents was always pressing. Preachers who developed reputations for giving new sermons, raising up good new preachers, or administrating things well rose quickly through the ranks. Couple that with legions of Methodist preachers who left the pulpit because they married and wanted to be home, turned to alcholism due to the stress/physical pain/lonliness, or simply wore out or died, and lots of moves had to be made.

What was a necessity in the late 18th century due to circumstance however, as often is the case in religion, largely became tradition later. Churches understood that they needed to equip themselves to house pastors and their families while Methodist preachers were largely underpaid (which is still the case for the vast majority of ordained ministers today). A model evolved where inexperienced preachers were appointed to small churches that largely self-functioned. It they desired to move to larger churches where the parsonages were larger and the pay better, they needed to learn how to do Methodist polity and preach well... which often resulted in the small church beginning to grow just about the time the pastor would get moved to something a little bit bigger.

Sadly, young preachers, short on experience but long on spunk, had once taken the message of Jesus across the frontier into new territories as entrepreneurial leaders who fueled Methodisms' rapid growth. Peter Cartwright, who pretty much single-handedly established Methodism as a force in this part of the world, was commissioned by Asbury at the age of 19 to a circuit. By the 1960's, this entrepreneurial spirit was largely replaced a bueracratic one, which might help account for a four-million member decline over the last thirty years.

7) Asbury's fear of pastor and laity desiring a "locational" model, where pastors served only a few, or even one local church, largely ended up becoming true. Laity are no longer encouraged to preach or teach. Pastors have now been largely given the job of raising up a new generation of leaders, while in Asbury's day the laity were the ones who discovered those among them that could preach in such a way as to give the Circuit Rider a run for his money. As result, while we have become better educated as clergy, and as a nation, rudimentary knowledge of the scripture, theology, and church history are ever decreasing among the general populace. In turn, as daily preaching and teaching responsibilities have been professionalized into the clergy, to fill their time and justify their salary, clergy have become the primary administrators, visitors of the sick, and evangelists in a congregation. At one time, someone just checked once a month to make sure the laity were taking care of business..... now, the pastor is the one held accountable by the laity to get these things accomplished, which was Asbury's greatest fear.

No Time To Write, So Instead....

Has been forwarded to me a few times, and thus I leave it here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

I've Been "Blog Tagged" and Plan on Filing Charges

Nolan Donald, a member of the BP class of 2006-07, recently made a post on his blog, and tagged five others, including myself, to follow his lead by answering the following questions about, of all things, books. I'll tell you right now about the last thing I want to blog about is books. I'm sick of books. I've read more books in the last four months that that last 10 years. It's like writing on the grossest thing I ever picked off of my body or a shopping guide for Wilmore, Kentucky... I'd rather shave my legs first.

BUT, I have been blog tagged AND Nolan and Susanna let me watch the Buckeyes at their home cause they have cable TV. So, in order to keep the peace, here we go

- One book that changed your life (we'll assume the Bible is asssumed): A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. It pretty much rescued my faith at a time when doubt was beginning to win the day.

- One book that you have read more than once: When I was a kid I loved the book, The Sunday Cycles by William Campbell Gault and I read all the Matt Christopher books again and again. More recently, a favorite has been The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, which has been used for planning many a sermon.

- One book you would want on a desert island (again assuming the Gideons have left a Bible in the drawer of my desert island hut): Uh, any book with a big map and a built in satellite phone.

- One book that made you laugh: Almost Friends: A Harmony Novel by Phillip Gulley and Loose Balls: Short and Wild Life of the American Basketball Association by Terry Pluto (the stuff on Marvin "Bad News" Barnes made me laugh so hard I'm not sure my spleen survived)

- One book that made you cry: The Civil War Series by Shelby Foote, particularly when recounting the deaths of Robert E. Lee and Abraham Lincoln, and Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Shelia McGraw, because my boys are growing up too fast.

- One book you wish had been written: Any John Grisham novel, but particularly, The Testament, which is my favorite.

- One book you wish had never been written: Just follow the link here but know that you'll need to gouge your eyes out of your head when you are done. (Note to Eric Stalkamp, my Dad and brother, Cathy Friesthler, or any true Buckeye fan: Do NOT click on that link. Did you hear me? You'd better off covering yourself with paper cuts and soaking in hot tub filled with isopropyl alcohol, or locking yourself in a room in a room where Fergie's new album plays out of a speaker and can't be turned down..... RUN FOR YOUR LIVES AND SAVE YOURSELVES!!!!!!!)

- One book you’re currently reading: Advanced Strategic Planning by Aubrey Malphurs (a great cure for insomnia)

- One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

and I'll add a few more catagories....

- Ten books I'll read once they are written:

1. America's First President/Grandmother: Kathryn Diehl by William F. Buckley

2. Don't Eat That, Chubby: How I Whipped Bryan Bucher Into Shape (volume one) by Cathlene Baker

3. The Beeson Pastor Class That Changed The World by Randy Jessen (with special forwards by Bono, Bill Hybles, Gov. Howie Mandel, and Brian McLaren)

4. Why Jesus Hates Religion by Bruxy Cavey (seriously)

5. Deliverance: How I Discovered That Columbus, Ohio Really Was the Center of the College Football Universe and Started Rooting for Ohio State by Susanna Donald (with forwards by Aaron Wymer and Trav Wilson)

6. What Stress? by Charlotte Hefner

7. How We Made Our Billions and Took Super Care of Our Parents In Their Retirement by Max, Xavier, and Elijah Bucher

8. Women: A Surefire Guide to Understanding by U. Wish

9. Ten National Championships: The Legacy of Coach Jim Tressel by Chris Spielman (forward by Troy Smith, Heisman Trophy Winner)

10. David for Grown-Ups by Dr. Joseph Bishman (why not boss... give it a whirl)

A Quick Update...

Hello All! Been a rough week, and am anticipating a rougher weekend. Eight papers are due by next Friday, and six of those need to be done my 9am Monday morning. I've been knocking them down one-by-one. On a five minute study break, so here are a few thoughts...

- Haikuapalooza is over. Thanks to so many of you who played (although I'm still a little put out by the reader at General Board of Discipleship in Nashville who didn't reveal who they were... come on, send me an email!). I'll announce the mug and bourbon fudge winner on Monday's "Ten Things..." Here's the last Haiku before we bid them adieu...
To: Eric Stallkamp
From: Lima, Ohio
Prays for Jim Tressel
and long contract for Lllloyd Carr
bleeds scarlet and grey

- The situation for Asbury's president-in-limbo, Jeff Greenway just gets more perplexing. For those who don't know, Greenway, in response to his yearly evaluation by the Executive Team of the Board of Trustees, went AWOL a couple of weeks just as the students were arriving on campus. Lots of rumors and innuendo have circled around here about what this "impasse" is actually about, but this blogger isn't into innuendo and rumor and I'm not really connected very well with the campus (being a Beeson Pastor is like being in a separate universe... more on that Monday), so I have no idea what's behind all of this drama. All I know is that the Executive board gave Greenway until last Friday to resign, nobody heard anything over the weekend, and then finally on Wednesday or Thursday, we received an email from Greenway saying that he wasn't going to publicly comment on this situation because the two sides were in conversation. So, ATS is functioning without a President, there's no apparent end in sight to this situation, and the campus is moving forward as if things are fine.... except that everyone knows that they aren't. Can't say that in a year where I was focused on earning a degree in leadership I'd ever dreamed I would be a witness to a real-world case study as bizarre as this one. But if the Executive Committee in a formal statement have declared Greenway's actions to be an "act of insubordination", how does this get put back together? Stay tuned.

- Just looked at the 1150WIMA.com "High School Football Scoreboard" and saw that Lima Senior lost 34-7 to Mason. Dad and I went to The Stadium to watch them play the second-half last week (a shellacking by Middletown), and I'd say that the prevailing mood in the stands was pretty ugly. The only win for the team thus far was a 26-24 squeaker against Celina, a team who I see lost to Shawnee 47-0 tonight. That State Championship in '96 seems more and more distant each and every day. So when can we start asking the question as to when Lima Senior joins the WBL? Come on, how much longer do we have to wait for this?

- My thoughts on Notre Dame V. Michigan tomorrow? Too bad the game can't end in a tie with lots of injuries.

- Number of minutes I've watched NFL football this season: Zero. No cable TV and all this work means no Monday Night Football for this puppy.

Five minutes turned into 20... gotta get back to work on thinking about what it means to incarnate Jesus in a pluralistic world. See you Monday!

Good Morning, Slacker

Woke up this morning, went to work, checked the email, and was greeted with a loyal "from Bryan's office..." fan who wanted to know where this week's post was.

"Good Morning, Slacker", was the heading of the email, which made me laugh, out loud (or LOL for those you online fugitives who no longer recognize standard English). I also, upon looking at the counter at the bottom of the page, realized that I had received hundred of clicks, which leads me to believe that 26 of you have checked this thing numerous times hoping for something that will hopefully make you laugh.

Well for those wondering if I'm still alive, thanks for the concern, and the answer is, "you bet your sweet bippy". It's just that I tend to write this at the end of the day on Mondays, and this past Monday was Memorial Day. The end of that work day was spent eating spare ribs at my in-laws, so here are few random thoughts to get you through to next week's "Ten Things".

1) Have been listening to the Dixie Chicks new album via the church's Rhapsody account, and I must say that I'm largely impressed. I especially like the song "Silent House", which is a haunting ode to somebody getting on with their life after a divorce/separation. While the album won't do the normal sales of past Chicks albums, artistically it is a step in the right direction. Their sound was pretty disposable before Natalie Maines decided to make a very un-country sounding statement of disrespect toward a sitting President from Texas. Here's a "hip hip" to the DC's, who decided to pursue a new road that examines them using their voice, as opposed to a well-traveled road of just giving the people what they want to hear. My hope is that when it's all said and done, they'll all agree that it was worth the price that they paid.

2) Max just started swimming for the Sherwood (our pool) Sharks this past Wednesday, and he's so excited that he slept in his new swimsuit last night. Practice was cancelled this morning because it was raining and 62 degrees, and Max was genuinely upset. A chance to get better, in his mind, increases the likelihood that he'll win a ribbon in a meet. Let's just say the boy will have no trouble grasping the basic principles of capitalism.

3) Am getting a taste of what its like dealing with the trucking industry, and I must say, the taste is bitter. We bought some used theatre chairs for the new children's theatre in the education wing of the church from an outfit in Denver, and the chairs, which were supposed to be here Wednesday, are somewhere lost in Columbus. I've been dealing with anguished truck drivers, dispatchers, and largely unsympathetic managers now for three days.... and it's getting old. Apparently the company we're using doesn't have those boxes that talk to them like in the IBM Help Desk commercial. Given that they lost our chairs somewhere between Denver and here, maybe they ought to give IBM a call.

4) If you are wondering why I haven't mentioned much about any books that I'm reading, it's because I haven't been reading at all (outside of my morning newspaper). I kinda hit a mental block about going back to school last week. I should be excited about this program, but, to be honest, I kinda feel like a first-grader facing the first day of school, all over again. Not to mention, I do feel a lot of guilt for essentially leaving Shawnee for a year to do this. The gift of time and support on the part of the church for me to do this is really a blessing I don't deserve.

But mostly, I'm upset because last week, Max brought home an "Alphabet Book" that he made at school, and under the letter "D", he had a drawing of me. "D is for Dad", read the caption, and the sentence he wrote for illustration was...

"Dad is always busy."

Let's just say that Beeson approaches, the internal struggle continues...

5) Am agonizing over a decision, that really shouldn't require much agonizing at all. A few weeks ago I earned my motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license after taking the class, and passing the test, mandated by the state. Sue Dickerson (who became a grandmother again this week... Congrats to her, and the proud parents, Bruce and Kristi, on the birth of baby Abby) has graciously allowed me to ride her bike as a means of practicing before I buy my own.

And that is where the agony begins.

You see, about a year-and-a-half ago, Aimee and I made a decision to live our life debt-free, which meant that we had to first, get out of debt. I've told the story at every church I've served about getting my first credit card in college, and the ruin that it led me, because I am, essentially, an idiot. Thus, actually making a change in our personal finances to accomodate real debt-elimination, and sticking with it, has been a big deal for us. To do it essentially on one income while still tithing has been an interesting challenge. But it's one that we've met, and very shortly, we'll acheive a number of very important personal goals we set ourselves, and start working on new ones that will lead to greater financial freedom for ourselves.

The stuggle now is that I really want a motorcycle, which, on the surface, seems shallow and self-centered. And, well, probably is.

But here's the best part of this story: Years ago, I'd have just bought the bike. I'd have gotten the loan (at probably a terrible interest rate), and wouldn't have bothered to justify the purchase. Now, I just can't bring myself to do it, as I don't want to do anything that jeopardizes the work Aimee and I have done together. I want to honor the decisions we've made together.

And the really sweet part of this, is that my wife, who for years had to put up with my stupidity, is telling me to go ahead and get a bike... partly because she sees the value in it (personally for me, professionally for us), but also because for the first time in our lives she doesn't feel like things own us, and that a purchase like this would plunge us back down a blackhole. We, not some bank, own our future, and the realization of that has been a spiritually enriching experience.

So I'm in agony, but its a good agony. And no matter how we do it, somehow Aimee and I will figure out, with God's blessing, an appropriate resolution. Used to be we only fought about money... now we can pray about it.

And for that, I give thanks.

Blast From The Past

Had a nice visit this weekend with Steve Clouse, the music director at Goshen (IN) First UMC, a former fellow staff person, and good friend. Steve graciously accepted an invitation of mine to come and see the house, visit our church, and sing a ditty or two at worship on Sunday. As an added treat, Steve brought his daughter Emma over to visit the boys, who enjoyed their time with her immensely.

This was really about the first time Steve and I had gotten together since we moved a little over a year ago. We spent most of our time just talking about life, God, family, and pretty much everything else under the sun. He shared with me all of the changes that have been taking place over at First since we left. I spent my time getting him acquainted with our new life. And, of course, we had a good time remembering all of the good times, of which there were many. He has a hard time getting used to seeing me without long hair, but outside of that, we pretty much just picked up where we left off. All in all, it was a great weekend, and a nice moment of grace in the middle of the summer.

It's tough when you leave, or lose, people who were a regular part of your life. It's hard to remember that the time you had with them was really a gift for God in the form of a moment in time that will never be fully recaptured. I mean, even though we returned to Shawnee after an eight year absence, while we were able reconnect with some old friends, the "Version 1.0" experience we had here can't ever be re-lived, or experienced again. Too many good people have passed or moved on, and, quite frankly, we've changed a lot too. "V2.0" is good, but not the same, and that's just life.

So, I have arrived at the conclusion that there will always be open holes in my soul that will never fully close, which has led me to two more conclusions:

1) Treat your relationships as gifts of God that tangibly, and intangibly, priceless. Maybe if we could remember this as we live together, the moments would be sweeter, the patience would last a little longer, and we'd understand just how good God really is. One of ourGoshen neighbors, Rolo Ortiz, helped me learn the importance of this around a fire ring on many a late night. "Buke", he'd say, "we'll never get this moment back again, so enjoy it". He said that enough times that I began to believe him, and now, as the opporunities for gathering with our beloved neighbors from Yorktown Drive have all but dried up, I have an ever greater sense of just how special those times under the stars truly were.

And 2), I look forward very much to someday being reunited with, and meeting for the first time, countless souls in the hereafter. I don't know, exactly, what heaven will be like, but I am convinced that it will be the full realization of true relationship with God and with others that will make the experience paradise.

Not golden streets, or mansions, or bright lights at the end of a tunnel, but endless time for good relationship, will make heaven a sweet, sweet experience, indeed. That's what I believe, and I'm sticking to it.

Until next time, God Bless,
Bryan