Seven Things I Think I Think
1) I'm going to get a little bit waylaid today, and I may not get to a full ten things that I think. That's because I've got a few major things I'm thinking about: capital campaigns, renovation projects, the Hispanic community in Lima, a proposed casino for our community...... let's get started.
2) First and foremost, Xavier's birthday was Saturday. My wife created an "Astronaut Training Center" in our living room with about 10 rolls of aluminum foil and some mattresses on the floor. A good time was had by all. Hard to believe Xavie is four already.... I wish they didn't grow up so fast (99% of the time).
3) We're in the throws here at the church of a proposed three-year Capital Campaign geared to paying off our current mortgage (a little over $500,000). I don't have any ambivalence about this campaign. I think it makes good fiscal sense to pay off the mortgage early. And, for that matter, I've never regretted any financial campaign I've run for a church because I believed, and believe in its mission and ministry. But, I have to admit, I fear becoming recognized as one of those pastors who "care only about money". I just always try to remember that the moment that someone decides to support a ministry, and makes a contribution, is sacred, because money is the thing you got in trade for a moment of your life and service. It is this, the image of hardworking people making a sacrifice on behalf of Jesus' kingdom, that gives meaning and weight for me, a pastor who had better utilize those resources to their fullest potential. Doing so, helps me sleep well at night.
4) Speaking of money, did you read Ronald Lederman Jr's article in The Lima News on Sunday? Lederman has come out in support of bringing a casino to Lima, which is his right, but check out this comment from column this Sunday (read the whole column here at http://www.limanews.com/story.php?IDnum=23962 ):
"Perhaps we can understand local religious leaders who oppose gambling. If your churchÂ’s stance is that gambling is a sin, it makes sense that youÂ’d oppose a casino. ItÂ’s still a shame some pastors have lost faith in their own messages, instead opting for the muscle of government to save us all."
Well, here's my reply to Mr. Lederman:
Mr. Lederman
As a local pastor, I'd like to respond to your column in the Sunday Edition of The Lima News. Your assertion that a member of the clergy who voices their opposition to this project is somehow acting in faithlessness, is absurd. Those in Christian ministry must adhere the message from the Epistle of James, which states that faith, without action, is useless. Since we live in a free society, where we encourage people to participate in the political process, not acting, it would seem, would truly be the faithless act. To insinuate otherwise is to have little sense of what a working faith actually is in the life of a believer.
How else can you explain why a good Libertarian, like yourself, is advocating the use of government land and resources to prop up a private business? It seems to me that if you had any faith in your own message, you'd tell the Eastern Shawnee Tribe to go to court, find their own land, and fight their own battle on this issue. Faithwise, for a Libertarian, wouldn't that make more sense?
I would hope, also, that as a member of the press, you would do a little more research on this issue beyond a couple of trips to a casino in Northern Michigan and your own simple deduction. If you had, you'd realize, for example, that the Chamber of Commerce of Grand Rapids, Michigan established, after commissioning a study by the Anderson Economic Group, that the economic promises made by a tribe like the Eastern Shawnee, are often largely unfounded. http://www.andersoneconomicgroup.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=display_aeg&doc_ID=665.
I invite you, Mr. Lederman, to take some time and look at this, and other studies regarding the effects of casino gambling on local communities at www.NoLimaCasino.org. There, you will find that those with and without religious convictions actually believe that casinos can be detrimental to the economy of a local community.
And finally, like you, I too have visited a casino. It was on a riverboat in Shreveport, Louisiana. While casually taking in the scene, I ended up standing next to a young woman who was popping dollar coins into a slot machine. As she did this, I overheard her on a cell phone asking her mother to please watch her children just a "couple more hours". And then, in mid-conversation, the machine paid out, and she exclaimed, "I got my rent money back!". Then, she hung up the phone, and started putting more coins into the slot.
Thus, in closing, I will advise that all those opposed to this casino for religious, or non-religious reasons, to write, email, or phone Mayor Berger, the Allen County Commissioners, the Shawnee Township Trustees, and the Perry Township Trustees to let them know how they feel on the subject of casino gambling in this community. And they can write to this paper, show up at political meetings dedicated to this subject, and not worry one whit about the validity of their faith. For, as Abraham Lincoln said, "To sin by silence makes cowards of men", and, in faith, I think I ought to heed his words, as opposed to your own.
Sincerely,
Rev. Bryan Bucher
www.NoLimaCasino.org
5) I also had the pleasure, last week, of attending a forum hosted by the Mayor on the subject of the influx Hispanicsics into the Lima community. Passions on the issue were running high on both sides, but the information presented to us by the various law enforcement officials from the local and federal officials, as well as the experience of various public officials from the town of Goshen, Indiana, was first rate.
You might remember that we moved here from Goshen two years ago, and you might now be asking, what, if any, connection I might have had in Mayor Kauffman, Superintendent Staley, and the others who came with them coming to Lima to speak on the subject.
Well, to be honest, while he gave me credit in the presentation itself, my connection to this event couldn't have been more flimsy. Dave Harris, pastor at Trinity UMC and the force behind this forum, and I had a conversation one day about tHispanicnic issue, and I let it slip that Goshen had already been through the transition a community goes through when thousands of non-English speaking people start calling your town home. After telling him a little of Goshen's story, I just suggested that he ought to go to Goshen and buy Mayor Kauffman a cup of coffee to talk over the subject. Two months later, Allen is in front of over 200 community leaders fielding questions about law enforcement, Mexican ID cards, and temporary drivers permits for illegal aliens.
The lesson in all this: That Dave Harris is one go-getter. Maybe next time I should suggest that he talk to the President of Barnes & Noble about building a store in Lima. Which takes me to this...
6) I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but the owners of the American Mall are currently discussing dismantling that facility, and constructing a new shopping plaza in its place. And wouldn't you know it, they mention bringing, by name, a Barnes & Noble to this community. Now, I've been emailing these people for the last nineteen months, so to even have just the smallest bone thrown at this hungry, old dog has re-energized me. Let's hope we get a decent bookstore that serves legal stimulants before we get a place to chuck dice on the 87% certainty that the "house" will win.
7) And finally (because time is short), the new Solid Rock Cafe, a meeting place here at Shawnee UMC, opened this Sunday to much fanfare. The decorators on this project, Kelly Balyeat and Vickie House, did a fine, fine job, accomplishing the "impossible": Creating a space that is appreciated and admired by people of all ages. Just a great experience watching the surprise in people's eyes as they layed them on the Cafe for the first time. First rate and kudos to all involved.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Monday, March 13, 2006
Ten Things I Think I Think
1) Made a great four-day pilgrimage to Indianapolis to watch the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament. While the "fairy tale ending" would have been the Buckeyes winning the whole shebang, they fell apart down the stretch, and were outplayed by Iowa who deservedly took home the trophy. However, when you're traveling with Eric Stalkamp, Tim Yunker, and Dad, you can't go wrong. A big "thanks" to Horizons of Faith UMC, who offered their retreat center, "Horizon House" to us (it was a good experience - if you'd like a weekend of renewal I'd encourage you to check out http://www.hof-umc.org/horizonshouse.htm ). Just a great weekend all-around.
2) My take on the State of Basketball in the Big Ten right now is that you won't have to worry about any Men's team from the conference making a run at the NCAA Tourney. Every team either lacks the necessary height (OSU, Indiana), ability to score (Michigan State), consistency (Iowa, Illinois), or talent (everyone else) to win the "big one" this year. The good news for Bucks fans, however, is the ongoing development and maturation of Jamar Butler. While I never had the chance to watch him while he attended Shawnee High School (we moved here the summer he graduated), the improvement in his game over the course of this season has been tremendous. Now, as their point guard, he has become the glue that is holding this team together, which is exciting when you think about next year's incoming recruiting class. He'll be the perfect leader for these young guys.
And, you never know when a team could get hot from the field, and make a serious run.... let's just hope the conference (and particularly Ohio State) makes a good showing in the tournament.
3) Not to bore you with all the details of the weekend, but I'll let you in on one more. On Sunday afternoon, we're walking down the street, looking for a place to get lunch, when out of nowhere woman hits me in the chest and screams, "Bucher!". I look around, and standing in front of me is Noelle Bollinger (well, the last name isn't Bollinger, it's Szydlyk, but I can barely spell that name, let alone say it). Noelle is the Event Coordinator for the Indiana Sports Corporation, which is a non-profit entity that organizes sporting events (for more info on ISC, go here: http://www.indianasportscorp.com/ISC2/index.php ) . Apparently, the ISC is organizing the Men's Tourney, and Noelle is in charge of the event. In my chance meeting with her, I learned two things...
First, Noelle always wanted to go into some form of management for a group or organization that's does sports. When she was a teenager in the youth group I pastored here at Shawnee before the dawn of fire, that was really her only professional goal. Now, years later, after earning a couple of degrees, working in a variety of jobs that paid her very little but provided much experience, now she's living her dream. Just a neat thing to witness over the course of these past 15 years.
And second, she could, and would have, procured me with better seats. Not that our seats were bad (although we could see the dust on top of the scoreboard hanging over center court). Kinda of lousy thing to learn after an event is over, but will be one of those pieces of information I'll tuck away for later!
Remember kids, it's not what you know..... it's who you know!
4) We kicked off a Capital Campaign this Sunday geared to paying down, or off, our current mortgage ($534,000) over the course of the next three years. To be honest, as a pastor I've always been uncomfortable asking for money. Mine is the generation who witnessed the irresponsible behavior of numerous TV preachers (think of Oral Roberts asking for millions or God would "take him home") and I don't want to be associated with that kind of behavior. But, the bottom line, is the bottom line. Without cash, this institution wouldn't last long, and since I believe that this church truly makes a difference in the world, I have no problem asking people to support its mission. This campaign is designed to help pay our current mortgage down, or off, over the course of the next three years. The result will be freeing up more money for ministry and mission..... in other words, to invest in people. Please keep it in your prayers.
5) Interesting story today out of Hollywood, where Isaac Hayes, the voice of the character named "Chef" on the show "South Park", announced today that he is quitting the show over it's intolerance of religious beliefs. Apparently, Hayes, who is a devout Scientologist, is upset over an episode from last season entitled "Trapped In The Closet" that took direct aim at Scientology, and couple of its biggest proponent, Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
Hayes, in a statement said he's leaving the show because "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins. "Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued. "As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."
The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were quick to respond, and what they had to say was interesting. Matt Stone said, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem, and he's cashed plenty of checks, with our show making fun of Christians." Trey Parker added that he, "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."
Considering that the show has mocked, among other things, Mel Gibson and his motives for making the "Passion of the Christ", (in a scathing episode) the Church of Latter Day Saints, Jesus in a multitude of situations (including winning a rigged boxing match against Satan), and also in the last season, Mary the mother of Jesus on an episode so offensive that the President of Viacom (who is a Catholic) has promised that his network, Comedy Central, will never show the episode again. The show is notorious for playing off of stereotypes. They even shot one episode where one of the show's main characters undergoes plastic surgery to become a tall, black man so that he can make a local basketball team and added a semi-permanent character named "Token Black".
So, why now, is Isaac Hayes so offended? Has he been watching the show? It was built on being offensive and vulgar. Just seems like strange timing to me, and makes me question just how secure the leadership of Scientology is about its image. Heaven knows that Christianity can take a beating on a number of fronts (and another one is about to hit with the release of "The DaVinci Code" movie), and somehow we're still standing. Can Scientology survive the same kind of scrutiny? My guess is that they don't want to know the answer to that question, and hence, now South Park no longer has its Chef. Just a strange turn of events....
6) It seems that the situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan is growing increasingly desperate. Now, the government of neighboring country, Chad, is asking the UN to intervene militarily, even as it has, over the years, been accused of supporting the murderous Islamic militias that have been slaughtering Sudanese Christians.
Which takes me back to an early post, where I wondered out loud, how in the world Islamic extremists can believe this can kind of behavior will do anything but turn the world against Islam. With actions like this, and now terrorist activity in Iraq designed to promote a Civil War between Sunni and Shiite Muslimsms who have lived together for hundreds of years largely in peace, I don't know how you promote anything other than fear and loathing among those living outside of your circle. This message must be getting across because imams all over the world are calling for an end to this kind of violent behavior. While the US can't ignore the plight of so many Muslims living in poverty in this world, at some point, a two-sided dialogue needs to takes place so that we can work toward solving, instead of creating new, problems.
7) Can the weather this winter get any weirder? The worst hurricane season on record, followed by an absurdly mild winter, and now tornados in Illinois in the month of March. If you've never lived in Illinois, then you don't know how strange this is, so just take my word for it. Now NASA is saying that the polar ice caps are getting thinner, which is an indicator that the world is getting warmer (read here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11745704/ ). This article also states that in the past, that scientific research like this would have been edited or not approved for release, which is somewhat unsettling given the fact that nobody in Ohio really wants to own ocean-front property here anytime soon. Don't want to be a "Chicken Little" but something strange does seem to be afoot in the world climate.
8) I stated earlier that this past weekend we stayed at a retreat center owned by Horizon of Faith UMC in Indianapolis. Now the quality of most of these kinds of places usually rivals the living conditions of your typical cottage at a small lake, and since this house had no TV, I wondered aloud last week if two of my traveling companion, Eric Stalkamp and Tim Yunker, would be too "fu fu" to survive such living conditions. I had no worry about Dad, who has slept on many a floor on many a mission trip with numerous loud, obnoxious teenagers.
Well, I'm pleased to announce that both Eric and Tim can travel cheap with the best of them. Tim provided our breakfast for the weekend (PopTarts) and Eric brought the cards and peanuts so we could pass the night away with a little Euchre. No whining about a lack of TV. No complaining about the simplicity of our surroundings..... just real men enjoying a weekend of male bonding around basketball.
Although the weekend was not without its "fu fu" moments. In the interest of time, I'll only list two...
We noticed that during a time out at Conseco, that Tim stuck around for the duration of the Time Out to watch the "Kiss Cam" on the main scoreboard. The "Kiss Cam" basically is a way of getting couples to kiss, on camera, as it's being broadcast live in the arena on the big screen, and all the little screens out in the concourse. Tim waited until the "Kiss Cam" was done, and the Time Out over, to head out to the restroom after the game had resumed! To miss part of a game to watch the "Kiss Cam" is definitely a "fu fu" moment.
And, the other "fu fu" moment of the weekend occurred when Eric insisted we needed to return to the Godiva Chocolate store so that he could pick up a sugarless chocolate bar before we headed back to the arena. Now that he bought a sugarless chocolate bar is more than forgivable, as he needs to do this for medical reasons, but anytime a man insists that he has to buy Godiva Chocolate, and its not for the purpose of pacifying or bribing his wife, that, my friend, is "fu fu". A real man would have rather eaten bark.
9) Watched the finale of "The Flavor of Love" on VH1 last night. (NOTE TO MY GRANDMOTHER: "The Flavor of Love" is set up kind of like "The Bachelor" in that twenty young women were vying for the affections of one single male, but it's different in that the male is "Flavor Flav", member of the "Public Enemy" rap group, and pretty much one of the weirdest people on the planet. For more info Grandmother, go here to www.vh1.com and click on "The Flavor of Love".) Watching twenty women throw themselves at Flav is kind of a surreal experience, but to watch two of them rip one another apart to "win" being with Flav (in what I'm supposing will be another reality series called, "Rollin' With the Flav") was just bizarre. Truly one of the lowest moments in reality TV history, and yet wildly entertaining to this humble preacher. I don't know what this says about the culture, or me. Come to think of it, staying up until 11pm to see who won Flav might have been the most "fu fu" moment of the entire weekend. I am not a man.
10) And finally, it's late, and I need to go home. Hope you had a great weekend, and I'll see you next week!
1) Made a great four-day pilgrimage to Indianapolis to watch the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament. While the "fairy tale ending" would have been the Buckeyes winning the whole shebang, they fell apart down the stretch, and were outplayed by Iowa who deservedly took home the trophy. However, when you're traveling with Eric Stalkamp, Tim Yunker, and Dad, you can't go wrong. A big "thanks" to Horizons of Faith UMC, who offered their retreat center, "Horizon House" to us (it was a good experience - if you'd like a weekend of renewal I'd encourage you to check out http://www.hof-umc.org/horizonshouse.htm ). Just a great weekend all-around.
2) My take on the State of Basketball in the Big Ten right now is that you won't have to worry about any Men's team from the conference making a run at the NCAA Tourney. Every team either lacks the necessary height (OSU, Indiana), ability to score (Michigan State), consistency (Iowa, Illinois), or talent (everyone else) to win the "big one" this year. The good news for Bucks fans, however, is the ongoing development and maturation of Jamar Butler. While I never had the chance to watch him while he attended Shawnee High School (we moved here the summer he graduated), the improvement in his game over the course of this season has been tremendous. Now, as their point guard, he has become the glue that is holding this team together, which is exciting when you think about next year's incoming recruiting class. He'll be the perfect leader for these young guys.
And, you never know when a team could get hot from the field, and make a serious run.... let's just hope the conference (and particularly Ohio State) makes a good showing in the tournament.
3) Not to bore you with all the details of the weekend, but I'll let you in on one more. On Sunday afternoon, we're walking down the street, looking for a place to get lunch, when out of nowhere woman hits me in the chest and screams, "Bucher!". I look around, and standing in front of me is Noelle Bollinger (well, the last name isn't Bollinger, it's Szydlyk, but I can barely spell that name, let alone say it). Noelle is the Event Coordinator for the Indiana Sports Corporation, which is a non-profit entity that organizes sporting events (for more info on ISC, go here: http://www.indianasportscorp.com/ISC2/index.php ) . Apparently, the ISC is organizing the Men's Tourney, and Noelle is in charge of the event. In my chance meeting with her, I learned two things...
First, Noelle always wanted to go into some form of management for a group or organization that's does sports. When she was a teenager in the youth group I pastored here at Shawnee before the dawn of fire, that was really her only professional goal. Now, years later, after earning a couple of degrees, working in a variety of jobs that paid her very little but provided much experience, now she's living her dream. Just a neat thing to witness over the course of these past 15 years.
And second, she could, and would have, procured me with better seats. Not that our seats were bad (although we could see the dust on top of the scoreboard hanging over center court). Kinda of lousy thing to learn after an event is over, but will be one of those pieces of information I'll tuck away for later!
Remember kids, it's not what you know..... it's who you know!
4) We kicked off a Capital Campaign this Sunday geared to paying down, or off, our current mortgage ($534,000) over the course of the next three years. To be honest, as a pastor I've always been uncomfortable asking for money. Mine is the generation who witnessed the irresponsible behavior of numerous TV preachers (think of Oral Roberts asking for millions or God would "take him home") and I don't want to be associated with that kind of behavior. But, the bottom line, is the bottom line. Without cash, this institution wouldn't last long, and since I believe that this church truly makes a difference in the world, I have no problem asking people to support its mission. This campaign is designed to help pay our current mortgage down, or off, over the course of the next three years. The result will be freeing up more money for ministry and mission..... in other words, to invest in people. Please keep it in your prayers.
5) Interesting story today out of Hollywood, where Isaac Hayes, the voice of the character named "Chef" on the show "South Park", announced today that he is quitting the show over it's intolerance of religious beliefs. Apparently, Hayes, who is a devout Scientologist, is upset over an episode from last season entitled "Trapped In The Closet" that took direct aim at Scientology, and couple of its biggest proponent, Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
Hayes, in a statement said he's leaving the show because "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins. "Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued. "As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."
The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were quick to respond, and what they had to say was interesting. Matt Stone said, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem, and he's cashed plenty of checks, with our show making fun of Christians." Trey Parker added that he, "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."
Considering that the show has mocked, among other things, Mel Gibson and his motives for making the "Passion of the Christ", (in a scathing episode) the Church of Latter Day Saints, Jesus in a multitude of situations (including winning a rigged boxing match against Satan), and also in the last season, Mary the mother of Jesus on an episode so offensive that the President of Viacom (who is a Catholic) has promised that his network, Comedy Central, will never show the episode again. The show is notorious for playing off of stereotypes. They even shot one episode where one of the show's main characters undergoes plastic surgery to become a tall, black man so that he can make a local basketball team and added a semi-permanent character named "Token Black".
So, why now, is Isaac Hayes so offended? Has he been watching the show? It was built on being offensive and vulgar. Just seems like strange timing to me, and makes me question just how secure the leadership of Scientology is about its image. Heaven knows that Christianity can take a beating on a number of fronts (and another one is about to hit with the release of "The DaVinci Code" movie), and somehow we're still standing. Can Scientology survive the same kind of scrutiny? My guess is that they don't want to know the answer to that question, and hence, now South Park no longer has its Chef. Just a strange turn of events....
6) It seems that the situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan is growing increasingly desperate. Now, the government of neighboring country, Chad, is asking the UN to intervene militarily, even as it has, over the years, been accused of supporting the murderous Islamic militias that have been slaughtering Sudanese Christians.
Which takes me back to an early post, where I wondered out loud, how in the world Islamic extremists can believe this can kind of behavior will do anything but turn the world against Islam. With actions like this, and now terrorist activity in Iraq designed to promote a Civil War between Sunni and Shiite Muslimsms who have lived together for hundreds of years largely in peace, I don't know how you promote anything other than fear and loathing among those living outside of your circle. This message must be getting across because imams all over the world are calling for an end to this kind of violent behavior. While the US can't ignore the plight of so many Muslims living in poverty in this world, at some point, a two-sided dialogue needs to takes place so that we can work toward solving, instead of creating new, problems.
7) Can the weather this winter get any weirder? The worst hurricane season on record, followed by an absurdly mild winter, and now tornados in Illinois in the month of March. If you've never lived in Illinois, then you don't know how strange this is, so just take my word for it. Now NASA is saying that the polar ice caps are getting thinner, which is an indicator that the world is getting warmer (read here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11745704/ ). This article also states that in the past, that scientific research like this would have been edited or not approved for release, which is somewhat unsettling given the fact that nobody in Ohio really wants to own ocean-front property here anytime soon. Don't want to be a "Chicken Little" but something strange does seem to be afoot in the world climate.
8) I stated earlier that this past weekend we stayed at a retreat center owned by Horizon of Faith UMC in Indianapolis. Now the quality of most of these kinds of places usually rivals the living conditions of your typical cottage at a small lake, and since this house had no TV, I wondered aloud last week if two of my traveling companion, Eric Stalkamp and Tim Yunker, would be too "fu fu" to survive such living conditions. I had no worry about Dad, who has slept on many a floor on many a mission trip with numerous loud, obnoxious teenagers.
Well, I'm pleased to announce that both Eric and Tim can travel cheap with the best of them. Tim provided our breakfast for the weekend (PopTarts) and Eric brought the cards and peanuts so we could pass the night away with a little Euchre. No whining about a lack of TV. No complaining about the simplicity of our surroundings..... just real men enjoying a weekend of male bonding around basketball.
Although the weekend was not without its "fu fu" moments. In the interest of time, I'll only list two...
We noticed that during a time out at Conseco, that Tim stuck around for the duration of the Time Out to watch the "Kiss Cam" on the main scoreboard. The "Kiss Cam" basically is a way of getting couples to kiss, on camera, as it's being broadcast live in the arena on the big screen, and all the little screens out in the concourse. Tim waited until the "Kiss Cam" was done, and the Time Out over, to head out to the restroom after the game had resumed! To miss part of a game to watch the "Kiss Cam" is definitely a "fu fu" moment.
And, the other "fu fu" moment of the weekend occurred when Eric insisted we needed to return to the Godiva Chocolate store so that he could pick up a sugarless chocolate bar before we headed back to the arena. Now that he bought a sugarless chocolate bar is more than forgivable, as he needs to do this for medical reasons, but anytime a man insists that he has to buy Godiva Chocolate, and its not for the purpose of pacifying or bribing his wife, that, my friend, is "fu fu". A real man would have rather eaten bark.
9) Watched the finale of "The Flavor of Love" on VH1 last night. (NOTE TO MY GRANDMOTHER: "The Flavor of Love" is set up kind of like "The Bachelor" in that twenty young women were vying for the affections of one single male, but it's different in that the male is "Flavor Flav", member of the "Public Enemy" rap group, and pretty much one of the weirdest people on the planet. For more info Grandmother, go here to www.vh1.com and click on "The Flavor of Love".) Watching twenty women throw themselves at Flav is kind of a surreal experience, but to watch two of them rip one another apart to "win" being with Flav (in what I'm supposing will be another reality series called, "Rollin' With the Flav") was just bizarre. Truly one of the lowest moments in reality TV history, and yet wildly entertaining to this humble preacher. I don't know what this says about the culture, or me. Come to think of it, staying up until 11pm to see who won Flav might have been the most "fu fu" moment of the entire weekend. I am not a man.
10) And finally, it's late, and I need to go home. Hope you had a great weekend, and I'll see you next week!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Ten Things I Think I Think
1) An amazing coincidence of events occurred this weekend here at Shawnee UMC. First and foremost, we confirmed 19 teenagers as members of the church. Now, for those who don't know what "confirmation" is, for churches who baptize infants (like ours), we do the baptism with the caveat that at some point, the child will need to make the decision on their own to accept the responsibility for the baptism. In other words, it's like when your parents took out loans so that you could go to college with the understanding that when you graduate, the responsibility for those loans would be yours. Since God has no grandkids (the subject of a future blog, as I am intrigued with the notion raised in Donald Miller's new book that everyone wants God to be their Grandfather, and not their Father), at some point kids who are dragged to church every Sunday need to make the decision for themselves that being a Christian, and a church-goer (which are linked.... another subject for another time) is something they want to do for themselves.
The process for confirmation put together here at Shawnee this year was very well-organized, and obviously very meaningful to the confirmands. In listening to them speak about their experience, they obviously had given much thought to their experience, and decision as to whether or not make the "confirmation". I'm sure the affair was a positive one, and will stick with these kids for many, many years. Kudos to Marty Hutchison for all the work she put into the experience (I hope her young proteges, Brent and Andrea, recognize the planning, execution, and organization that went into making this a success), all the mentors from the congregation, and the parents. I trust that results of this year's group will have longer lasting effects, in a positive sense, than most other confirmation experiences. I have great confidence that it will.
2) Thing number 2 that happened occurred either late at night, or early in the morning before our services. Somebody, or some group of people, decided to "tag" our church with some offensive graffiti. You can imagine our dismay, as a church, when we drove up for worship to be greeted with multiple symbols for the occult and an "anarchy" symbol. Throw in the expense and time it will take to remove these crudely spray-painted objects, and you've got the makings for one unpleasant set of circumstances.
I put these two events together because I'm relatively sure that a mature adult didn't tag our building. Someone in their teens, or a period of extended adolescence, decided it would be a good idea to risk possible jail time, a fine, and the costs of clean-up, to anonymously let the public know that they disagree with our faith-choice, and that a system without governance is better than the system we have now.
In short, this person is young, confused, and disturbed.
Which brings me to this conclusion: There is no other time of life (with the possible exception of a midlife crisis) where you are more susceptible to making a stupid decision that will destroy your life than between the years of 13 and 23. I say "23", because after having worked with a number of young adults, I have recognized, as have a number of sociologists, that in an affluent culture like ours, that really has no "rite of passage" where young people can be recognized as adults (getting a driver's license, signing up for the draft, and being able to buy alcohol legally really don't fit that bill) we are now experiencing the extension of adolescent behavior in years that would traditionally be considered "adulthood".
If the church could give society any gift, the greatest it could bestow would be figuring out how to partner with parents to help young people navigate these difficult years. It ought to be one of our hallmarks.... one of our great success stories. We ought to be "the place" people come to help youngsters figure out who they are, and where they are going. While it takes money to do this, the greater expense is time.... time on the part of those not paid to be with kids (think about it.... besides parents or family members, what other adults spend time with teens without being paid to do so?). Christian adults who seek to be in good relationships (with good boundaries) in the context of a controlled, safe environment.
When a church puts this together, it becomes a dynamic place where kids who tag churches are sought out, welcomed and embraced. Where decisions to live lives of self-sacrifice, mercy, grace, and love are made by teens who are, and aren't dragged by their parents to worship on Sunday morning. Where confusion can be talked out with people who have lived enough life that they care little or nothing for what popular culture says is cool, or defining.
We lived that dream for two months during this confirmation experience. I hope we're wise enough to figure out ways for it to continue.
3) Watched the Oscars last night with my grandmother. Here my thoughts in no particular order...
1) An amazing coincidence of events occurred this weekend here at Shawnee UMC. First and foremost, we confirmed 19 teenagers as members of the church. Now, for those who don't know what "confirmation" is, for churches who baptize infants (like ours), we do the baptism with the caveat that at some point, the child will need to make the decision on their own to accept the responsibility for the baptism. In other words, it's like when your parents took out loans so that you could go to college with the understanding that when you graduate, the responsibility for those loans would be yours. Since God has no grandkids (the subject of a future blog, as I am intrigued with the notion raised in Donald Miller's new book that everyone wants God to be their Grandfather, and not their Father), at some point kids who are dragged to church every Sunday need to make the decision for themselves that being a Christian, and a church-goer (which are linked.... another subject for another time) is something they want to do for themselves.
The process for confirmation put together here at Shawnee this year was very well-organized, and obviously very meaningful to the confirmands. In listening to them speak about their experience, they obviously had given much thought to their experience, and decision as to whether or not make the "confirmation". I'm sure the affair was a positive one, and will stick with these kids for many, many years. Kudos to Marty Hutchison for all the work she put into the experience (I hope her young proteges, Brent and Andrea, recognize the planning, execution, and organization that went into making this a success), all the mentors from the congregation, and the parents. I trust that results of this year's group will have longer lasting effects, in a positive sense, than most other confirmation experiences. I have great confidence that it will.
2) Thing number 2 that happened occurred either late at night, or early in the morning before our services. Somebody, or some group of people, decided to "tag" our church with some offensive graffiti. You can imagine our dismay, as a church, when we drove up for worship to be greeted with multiple symbols for the occult and an "anarchy" symbol. Throw in the expense and time it will take to remove these crudely spray-painted objects, and you've got the makings for one unpleasant set of circumstances.
I put these two events together because I'm relatively sure that a mature adult didn't tag our building. Someone in their teens, or a period of extended adolescence, decided it would be a good idea to risk possible jail time, a fine, and the costs of clean-up, to anonymously let the public know that they disagree with our faith-choice, and that a system without governance is better than the system we have now.
In short, this person is young, confused, and disturbed.
Which brings me to this conclusion: There is no other time of life (with the possible exception of a midlife crisis) where you are more susceptible to making a stupid decision that will destroy your life than between the years of 13 and 23. I say "23", because after having worked with a number of young adults, I have recognized, as have a number of sociologists, that in an affluent culture like ours, that really has no "rite of passage" where young people can be recognized as adults (getting a driver's license, signing up for the draft, and being able to buy alcohol legally really don't fit that bill) we are now experiencing the extension of adolescent behavior in years that would traditionally be considered "adulthood".
If the church could give society any gift, the greatest it could bestow would be figuring out how to partner with parents to help young people navigate these difficult years. It ought to be one of our hallmarks.... one of our great success stories. We ought to be "the place" people come to help youngsters figure out who they are, and where they are going. While it takes money to do this, the greater expense is time.... time on the part of those not paid to be with kids (think about it.... besides parents or family members, what other adults spend time with teens without being paid to do so?). Christian adults who seek to be in good relationships (with good boundaries) in the context of a controlled, safe environment.
When a church puts this together, it becomes a dynamic place where kids who tag churches are sought out, welcomed and embraced. Where decisions to live lives of self-sacrifice, mercy, grace, and love are made by teens who are, and aren't dragged by their parents to worship on Sunday morning. Where confusion can be talked out with people who have lived enough life that they care little or nothing for what popular culture says is cool, or defining.
We lived that dream for two months during this confirmation experience. I hope we're wise enough to figure out ways for it to continue.
3) Watched the Oscars last night with my grandmother. Here my thoughts in no particular order...
- Jon Stewart did a credible job as host, but he didn't make anyone forget Billy Crystal.
- I'm sick of Brokeback Mountain, and I haven't even seen the movie.
- One of the actresses (I can't remember which one) who was up for "Best Actress in a Leading Role" wore a dress with a pillow on the shoulder. My grandmother described it as "a terrible mistake".
- Best line of the night: "For those out there keeping score, that's Martin Scorsese with zero Oscars, and the 3-6 Mafia with one."
- If you just showed the categories people cared about (Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actor Actress, and Best Picture), the whole deal could be over in 30 minutes.
- I'm sure if Jack Nickelson E-bay'd a chance for a guy and three of his buddies to hang out with him in Vegas for a weekend, that he'd raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity. The guy is walking party.
- Philip Seymour Hoffman is a brilliant actor. Have liked him in everything I've seen him in, but I thought he took it to another level four years ago in in the movie "Love Liza", which is described by IMBd as "a searing look at grief". Anyone that can pull off a movie about a guy who starts huffing gasoline after the unexplained suicide of his wife is pretty brilliant (and, that being said, this is not necessarily a recommendation that you rent this movie. You've got to like independent film, and be willing to be depressed for a number of days to watch this puppy).
- I never thought the word "pimp" would ever be used at the Academy Awards.
4) Went to the "Vision Life" retreat hosted by Bishop Ough on Saturday, and while I won't say much about it, I will say this: If someone from the Conference Office had showed me a way to re-organize itself into a ministry that was "distinctive and additive" to what is supposed to be done at the District level, all in the name of developing/planting local church, and CUT the budget by $200k (as opposed to raise it the same amount), all in attendance would have been intrigued and impressed. That truly, would have been thinking outside of the box.
5) And another thing about the Vision Life retreat...
The featured guest speaker for the day was Bishop Huie, the bishop of the Texas Annual Conference (one of six Annual Conferences in that state). One of her greatest concerns (echoed later by our own Bishop) was the declining percentage of clergy in the UMC that are under the age of 35. The number, which nationally has declined from 15% in 1985, to about 5% in 2005, reflects the decrease in the number of people (like myself) who went to seminary straight from college. Largely, our ranks have been filled with "second career" folks, which isn't necessarily bad, but since national studies show that churches tend to bring in people who are, on average, about seven years older or younger than the Senior Pastor, many are afraid that this trend will exacerbate an all-ready rapidly aging denomination. Thus, conferences like Texas are going to concentrate efforts to try and turn this around largely by trying to offer appointments that pay better in more "happening" communities.
I'll make an observation here: Right now, if you were young and had great potential, you could go to a number of denominations that would give you money to start a new church. While starting a new church is a challenge, trying to fit in one that's already established (and may have developed some bad habits) can be ten times harder. What's more, you don't necessarily need a seminary education (and the massive loans people take out to get one) to plant these churches, as these denominations are finding new ways to train and apprentice young pastors that can successfully lead a congregation. I mean, we have two UM-seminaries in the West Ohio Conference, and somehow that kind of proximity to training and education hasn't produced the results desired by those in charge, so I have to wonder...
- In an effort to recruit new pastors, will we alter our expectations regarding education and experience when it comes to credentialing?
- Will we make available appointments in new church, or multi-site settings that have the kind of potential for growth that will excite young, entrepreneurial pastors?
6) Am making the long trek to Wilmore, Kentucky tomorrow to try and hammer out some sort of schedule and plan regarding my doctoral work that will be acceptable to this church, the conference, the Beeson Institute, and Asbury Theological Seminary. If we can reach some sort of agreement, this will force us all to commit to a fixed schedule in the coming year. Pray for us all as we seek a compromise that will bring glory and honor to the Kingdom of Heaven.
7) Met with Robin Andes this morning to get a handle on what I should be doing during my daily workout. If you want any idea of how it went, I found today that I warm up and stretch incorrectly. Talk about having a lot to learn. I'm looking forward to the pain.
8) This Thursday, yours truly is heading off to Indy to see the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament. Accompanied by Eric Stalkamp and Tim Yunker (my dad will make the trek on Friday, and my old friend Steve Clouse, a Goshen compadre, will sit-in on Thursday), we will venture forth into the great abyss that is 10 games in four days, and a number one seed for OSU. Because I am cheap, we are staying at Horizon House, a home owned by Horizon of Hope UMC in Indy for the express purpose of providing pastors and church people a cheap place to stay and re-charge. Which bring me to this thing I think:
There are two kinds of travelers: The kind that need to stay close to the arena where they drink "double chocolate creame" coffee in a hotel room complete with a king-sized bed and 42" plasma screen TV, and the kind that are thankful when they don't have to sleep on a floor, but will, if necessary in a place where you boil your own water for instant coffee. You obviously know what kind of traveler I am.... we'll see how "foo foo" or how tough my traveling buddies are this weekend. There should be a good time had by all.
9) Elijah started crawling this weekend, so we're getting ready for another mobile child. Now that they outnumber us, we'll need to outsmart them. Here's hoping that we can.
10) And finally, spent some time at the rear of our sanctuary observing 30 young people from our church worshipping in faint candlelight, and was personally, very moved. I remember many such evenings as a student, and leader, myself, in many different places in the world, where it was obvious God was present, and active. In the faint chance any of those kids are reading this now, store up the experience, and count it as a treasure. The memory of the experience, and the people you experienced it with, will someday warm your soul. Thanks for the gift, kids.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Ten Things I Think I Think
1) Have lucked into a couple of all-session tickets for the 2006 Men's Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis in a couple of weeks, so Dad and I will make the trek (where we'll meet Eric Stalkamp and a fan to be named later). I'm really looking forward to this, not just for the b-ball, but because when I was little kid, every year Dad would get a couple of all-session tickets to the WVIAC tournament in Charleston. Some of my earliest memories are of he and I sitting at the Charleston Civic Center eating popcorn while watching WV Wesleyan, Morris Harvey (now the University of Charleston), Fairmont, or some other small NAIA college duke it out for the league championship. That was the place, in fact, where I fell in love with basketball. So, to revisit this with Dad will be good on a number of levels. Can't wait to get there. Feel free Indiana blog readers to email good places to eat in Indy at revbdb@woh.rr.com .
2) In an effort to do to my son, what Dad did to me, on St. Patrick's Day, Max and I will be making the trek to Cleveland to see the Cavaliers in action. I'll probably go broke just parking the car and feeding the boy, but it should be a good time. At the end of the game, Max will get to go out on the floor at the Q and shoot a free throw (which was something I got to do at Richfield coliseum back in the early eighties... got to give World B. Free "five" too!), so I'm hoping it'll give him some incentive when he gets home to spend a little more time in the cul-de-sac shooting hoops. A big basketball month at the Bucher house.
3) All day this Saturday, and I mean ALL DAY, I'll be in a meeting with 200 lay and clergy people from across the conference to talk about the current transition from 14 down to 8 districts. Without getting into too much trouble, let's just say the prospect of such a discussion isn't exactly "stimulating". I'll be a good soldier, and do my part, but frankly, I wonder how different things would be for the local church if our conference eliminated districts all-together. While I've got nothing against District Superintendents, district offices, events, and staffs, in terms of day-to-day operations in a local church, I don't know how much real impact they really have. Makes one wonder, in an age of internet, email, cell phones, and now video conferencing, is the kind of oversight that was necessary when Ohio was a wild frontier served by Circuit Riders, still necessary today? The kind of "middle management" that's going by the wayside in Corporate America (as witnessed by the dozens of white-collar workers at the local Ford plant who unfortunately lost their last week in Ford's latest re-structuring), is still considered pretty important in the United Methodist Church. But how much longer can we afford it?
After a stint as a conference staff years ago, I openly wonder about the value of employing a whole staff of people whose primary function is to a) figure out where our pastors should be appointed, b) meet with those pastors and lay people at local churches once a year to find out how their doing, and c) put out "fires" at troubled churches. While DS's do a good job helping churches that are in crisis, there are so many of our churches in crisis, one wonders if they wouldn't be better served spending their time a) looking for opportunities for new church plants, b) working with churches and pastoral leaders looking to be revitalized, and c) recruiting high quality pastoral leadership. I hope re-districting leads to these things, but old habits die hard. I'll keep you posted as more info comes available.
4) The situation in Iraq seems to be going from bad, to worse, as now Sunni and Shiite Muslems are becoming so openly hostile that Civil War has now become a real possibility.
Here's the thing about dictators.... while the means with which they keep order are contrary to basic human decency, often the force they use masks deeper divisions which exist among those under their rule. Yugoslavia was a good example of what happens in the aftermath of a regime collapse. Marshall Tito was no saint, by any means, but his iron hand helped keep in check ethnic and religious tensions that had existed in this region for centuries. Imagine our surprise when in response to the fall of the iron curtain, we witnessed terrible atrocities in what we now know as Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia as, literally, neighbors waged battles against neighbors.
By the way, we sent troops there to help restore order in this region, and they are still there.
While a certain amount of bloodshed is probably necessary in situations where self-determination is happening among differing peoples, why would we dream that we'd be getting out of Iraq anytime soon given the serious differences that already existed there, previous to WWII (and WWI, and Spanish American War, and the Hundred Years War, and maybe even before the Holy Roman Empire)? How you could expect anything less than a long-term presence in a place where people are this deeply divided is beyond me. Get ready for a very long ordeal.
5) Went to lunch with my boss (Joseph Bishman) at his invitation, and at the register, he pulled the old "I left my wallet at home" routine. His mock surprise and look of shock/embarrassment need a lot of work. I'd teach him, but some things you're just born with. It's a gift from God. Here's hoping that he continues to manage his money well, because he'll never make it as a mooch.
6) Just read a really, really good book. "To Own A Dragon: Rewriting the Legacy of an Invisable Father" by Donald Miller is a touching, thoughtful look at what it means to become a man. It is a great read whether you grew up with a father, or not. I'd recommend it to anyone with a young man struggling to get their act together, to a mother or father trying to figure out what they want to instill in their son(s), as a graduation (high school or college) gift this spring, or for anyone looking for a good read on the aftereffects of fatherless homes. I left the book at home (and I'm writing this at work), so I'll try to publish a couple of brief excerpts later this week. You can buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1576837319/sr=8-1/qid=1141104255/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-2698832-2035006?%5Fencoding=UTF8
7) Received a nice email from a former youth group-ite. Mr. Mike Deranek is a second-year student at Indiana University studying the social sciences, and aiming for a career in law, ministry, teaching, or politics (quite a combination of possibilities, isn't it?). Mike informs me that he's working as a TA for a Poly Sci prof on campus, and has been active in IU's rather involved effort in getting students from the campus to volunteer their time cleaning up the mess left by Katrina. Mr. Deranek credits his time on mission experiences during his tenure at Goshen First UMC as good preparation for the work he's doing now to help organize a series of these trips for students over the next three years. Just a marvelous young man, and despite the fact that he chose IU, and not an elite Big Ten school, like Ohio State, I couldn't be more proud of how well he's doing.
And, to be honest, he was such a pain in the can as a middle school student, I'm grateful I didn't kill him eight years ago. Goes to show that God really knew what he was doing with that "Do not kill" commandment. Just a life-saver for pre-teens and teens (and probably husbands who are United Methodist Pastors) everywhere.
8) We had a great Home Fellowship meeting at the Bucher home, Sunday. (NOTE TO MY GRANDMOTHER: Home Fellowship is a six week program where a number of people from our church get together, and spend some time getting to know one another.) The meeting itself is bound by confidentiality, but I can say that I'm impressed with the questions being expressed by the people in the group. For example, the topic of creation v. evolution came up, which in Christian circles is really more of a question of how you interpret scripture: literally or from a historical/critical perspective. Just a great discussion among some very intelligent people trying to make sense of their faith in a post-modern age. Am looking forward to meeting three next week.
9) For all of you out there who liked "Brokeback Mountain", my Uncle Dennis, a true Utah mountain man if there ever was one, assures me that there were no gay cowboys. Considering the fact that the man actually chases after bears to hunt them down, which is either an act of bravery or insanity, I'm not going to argue with him.
10) And finally, a moment of silence for Don Knotts, simply one of the best comedic actors of his time. Thanks for Barney Fife, Don.... he makes me laugh every single time.
1) Have lucked into a couple of all-session tickets for the 2006 Men's Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis in a couple of weeks, so Dad and I will make the trek (where we'll meet Eric Stalkamp and a fan to be named later). I'm really looking forward to this, not just for the b-ball, but because when I was little kid, every year Dad would get a couple of all-session tickets to the WVIAC tournament in Charleston. Some of my earliest memories are of he and I sitting at the Charleston Civic Center eating popcorn while watching WV Wesleyan, Morris Harvey (now the University of Charleston), Fairmont, or some other small NAIA college duke it out for the league championship. That was the place, in fact, where I fell in love with basketball. So, to revisit this with Dad will be good on a number of levels. Can't wait to get there. Feel free Indiana blog readers to email good places to eat in Indy at revbdb@woh.rr.com .
2) In an effort to do to my son, what Dad did to me, on St. Patrick's Day, Max and I will be making the trek to Cleveland to see the Cavaliers in action. I'll probably go broke just parking the car and feeding the boy, but it should be a good time. At the end of the game, Max will get to go out on the floor at the Q and shoot a free throw (which was something I got to do at Richfield coliseum back in the early eighties... got to give World B. Free "five" too!), so I'm hoping it'll give him some incentive when he gets home to spend a little more time in the cul-de-sac shooting hoops. A big basketball month at the Bucher house.
3) All day this Saturday, and I mean ALL DAY, I'll be in a meeting with 200 lay and clergy people from across the conference to talk about the current transition from 14 down to 8 districts. Without getting into too much trouble, let's just say the prospect of such a discussion isn't exactly "stimulating". I'll be a good soldier, and do my part, but frankly, I wonder how different things would be for the local church if our conference eliminated districts all-together. While I've got nothing against District Superintendents, district offices, events, and staffs, in terms of day-to-day operations in a local church, I don't know how much real impact they really have. Makes one wonder, in an age of internet, email, cell phones, and now video conferencing, is the kind of oversight that was necessary when Ohio was a wild frontier served by Circuit Riders, still necessary today? The kind of "middle management" that's going by the wayside in Corporate America (as witnessed by the dozens of white-collar workers at the local Ford plant who unfortunately lost their last week in Ford's latest re-structuring), is still considered pretty important in the United Methodist Church. But how much longer can we afford it?
After a stint as a conference staff years ago, I openly wonder about the value of employing a whole staff of people whose primary function is to a) figure out where our pastors should be appointed, b) meet with those pastors and lay people at local churches once a year to find out how their doing, and c) put out "fires" at troubled churches. While DS's do a good job helping churches that are in crisis, there are so many of our churches in crisis, one wonders if they wouldn't be better served spending their time a) looking for opportunities for new church plants, b) working with churches and pastoral leaders looking to be revitalized, and c) recruiting high quality pastoral leadership. I hope re-districting leads to these things, but old habits die hard. I'll keep you posted as more info comes available.
4) The situation in Iraq seems to be going from bad, to worse, as now Sunni and Shiite Muslems are becoming so openly hostile that Civil War has now become a real possibility.
Here's the thing about dictators.... while the means with which they keep order are contrary to basic human decency, often the force they use masks deeper divisions which exist among those under their rule. Yugoslavia was a good example of what happens in the aftermath of a regime collapse. Marshall Tito was no saint, by any means, but his iron hand helped keep in check ethnic and religious tensions that had existed in this region for centuries. Imagine our surprise when in response to the fall of the iron curtain, we witnessed terrible atrocities in what we now know as Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia as, literally, neighbors waged battles against neighbors.
By the way, we sent troops there to help restore order in this region, and they are still there.
While a certain amount of bloodshed is probably necessary in situations where self-determination is happening among differing peoples, why would we dream that we'd be getting out of Iraq anytime soon given the serious differences that already existed there, previous to WWII (and WWI, and Spanish American War, and the Hundred Years War, and maybe even before the Holy Roman Empire)? How you could expect anything less than a long-term presence in a place where people are this deeply divided is beyond me. Get ready for a very long ordeal.
5) Went to lunch with my boss (Joseph Bishman) at his invitation, and at the register, he pulled the old "I left my wallet at home" routine. His mock surprise and look of shock/embarrassment need a lot of work. I'd teach him, but some things you're just born with. It's a gift from God. Here's hoping that he continues to manage his money well, because he'll never make it as a mooch.
6) Just read a really, really good book. "To Own A Dragon: Rewriting the Legacy of an Invisable Father" by Donald Miller is a touching, thoughtful look at what it means to become a man. It is a great read whether you grew up with a father, or not. I'd recommend it to anyone with a young man struggling to get their act together, to a mother or father trying to figure out what they want to instill in their son(s), as a graduation (high school or college) gift this spring, or for anyone looking for a good read on the aftereffects of fatherless homes. I left the book at home (and I'm writing this at work), so I'll try to publish a couple of brief excerpts later this week. You can buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1576837319/sr=8-1/qid=1141104255/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-2698832-2035006?%5Fencoding=UTF8
7) Received a nice email from a former youth group-ite. Mr. Mike Deranek is a second-year student at Indiana University studying the social sciences, and aiming for a career in law, ministry, teaching, or politics (quite a combination of possibilities, isn't it?). Mike informs me that he's working as a TA for a Poly Sci prof on campus, and has been active in IU's rather involved effort in getting students from the campus to volunteer their time cleaning up the mess left by Katrina. Mr. Deranek credits his time on mission experiences during his tenure at Goshen First UMC as good preparation for the work he's doing now to help organize a series of these trips for students over the next three years. Just a marvelous young man, and despite the fact that he chose IU, and not an elite Big Ten school, like Ohio State, I couldn't be more proud of how well he's doing.
And, to be honest, he was such a pain in the can as a middle school student, I'm grateful I didn't kill him eight years ago. Goes to show that God really knew what he was doing with that "Do not kill" commandment. Just a life-saver for pre-teens and teens (and probably husbands who are United Methodist Pastors) everywhere.
8) We had a great Home Fellowship meeting at the Bucher home, Sunday. (NOTE TO MY GRANDMOTHER: Home Fellowship is a six week program where a number of people from our church get together, and spend some time getting to know one another.) The meeting itself is bound by confidentiality, but I can say that I'm impressed with the questions being expressed by the people in the group. For example, the topic of creation v. evolution came up, which in Christian circles is really more of a question of how you interpret scripture: literally or from a historical/critical perspective. Just a great discussion among some very intelligent people trying to make sense of their faith in a post-modern age. Am looking forward to meeting three next week.
9) For all of you out there who liked "Brokeback Mountain", my Uncle Dennis, a true Utah mountain man if there ever was one, assures me that there were no gay cowboys. Considering the fact that the man actually chases after bears to hunt them down, which is either an act of bravery or insanity, I'm not going to argue with him.
10) And finally, a moment of silence for Don Knotts, simply one of the best comedic actors of his time. Thanks for Barney Fife, Don.... he makes me laugh every single time.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Ten Things I Think I Think (President's Day +1 Edition)
1) Sorry to post this thing a day late. This weekend, Aimee and Bryan Bucher took another wary step forward as parents. Max, who turned seven (can that be right? seven? really? is that possible?) last Friday asked for an overnight birthday party, which we hosted on Sunday night (which was possible because the kids had no school on Monday). The evening consisted of a trip up to the YMCA for some swimming, the eating of copius amounts of food (first graders can eat when they put their mind to it), the watching of many movies on the "big screen" in the basement, and (the hit of the evening) the playing of multiple video games on multiple X-Boxes hooked up to multiple TV's.
In other words, we provided what is pretty much a vision of heaven for suburban, American first grade boys.
Thus I missed posting this yesterday, not because they wore us ragged (actually, all hands on deck were asleep by 10:30pm), but because one of the boys at the party was Max's best friend, Mitchell, who lives in our old stomping ground of Goshen, Indiana. So, yesterday, I drove to Goshen to drop off Mitchell, stopped to see an old friend (more on that later), and returned home just-in-time for a Staff-Parish Committee Meeting. Hope the extra day's wait didn't cause too much anxiety. It's just the price y'all had to pay because Aimee and I pro-created.
2) The old friend I visited during my brief (two hours) visit to the Maple City was Karen Lyndon. Karen's husband, Dick, was my Senior Pastor at Goshen First UMC for about 4 1/2 years until his untimely and tragic death. Dick died very unexpectedly in January of 2003 of ARDS (Accute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) which was complicated by the failure of his liver. I don't believe that I, or anyone who truly loved him, have ever gotten over his loss, as he was a wonderful, creative pastor, and an even better human being.
Anyhow, I hadn't seen Karen in quite some time, so this sojourn northwest provided me with the opportunity to catch up on what had been going on with her, her kids, and grandkids (two of which I served as a youth pastor while in that fine city). I think the fallout from Dick's passing is still affecting them all, but I was proud of how well I thought Karen was coping with her new reality. I was also very happy to hear that now you might catch her volunteering at the local Hospital or with Hospice of Goshen. I know she enjoyed catching up and seeing the boys (except for Eli, who didn't make the trip with us... we brought pictures, though), and I enjoyed just spending time with someone who loves our family, and we love back. I hope she knows how much I enjoyed, and needed, this visit. Thanks Karen!
3) It's weird, sometimes, how things kinda fall together. This morning, around 8am, Joseph called to ask if I'd host our latest edition of Koinania (a corporate Bible study). He was now expecting unexpected company this evening, and Charlotte (our other Associate Pastor) had left for Haiti with the Medical Team early this morning, so now he was calling in the "third string QB". This wasn't a surprise, actually, as this happens a lot when you are an associate pastor. No, the weird part of the request was that he asked me, as a way of starting off the evening, to do a short Bible Study and devotion on the passage in Deuteronomy 31 where Moses, facing his own death, names his successor, Joshua.
"I thought you could talk about your experience with Dick while you in Goshen", Joseph said. "About needing to lead even though the leader of the group had passed away."
When you go back to something painful in your life, as you unpack the experience again, inevitably you pick at the "scab" that's covering the wound in your soul. So, when I took this phone call, knowing what you now know about my journey yesterday, you'll understand when I say that Joseph's request literally took my breath away. To re-live what had been a very painful experience was one thing.... to share a piece of that experience with 35 people is another. And while, as a pastor, I share a considerable amount of my own personal journey with others, that doesn't mean that it's easy (or, often, wise) to do so.
But the folks tonight were gracious as I struggled recollecting certain moments in history that have help shape what I have become, much in the same way intense heat makes it possible for a metal piece to be re-shaped and molded. And I learned something as I re-lived, mentally, what it was like to try to minister to your boss and his family, while also leading a congregation...
You can reach closure in the aftermath of a crisis like this, without reaching a point where the pain goes away. For closure, I believe, only comes when we accept that God is God, and we are not, and because we aren't God, we can't fully know what in the world He's doing. We can only trust that he still loves us as we stare in the abyss of great mystery. And the pain, well, it never ever really goes away if you truly love somebody. It's just a part of the bond we developed with someone who we loved, and loved us. So, its possible, I think, to reach a point of closure, but still experience pain. Maybe this isn't an earth-shattering revelation, but it made me feel better. Thanks to tonight's presenters, Linda Lawson and Barb Brenneman, the good questions of tonight's participants, and a great conversation yesterday with Karen for helping me see this in a new light.
4) About four or five years ago, Dick and I were at a conference where the presenter, a church-consultant named Lyle Schaller, asked Dick this question:
What is the single most important question facing your congregation right now?
Dick, immediately (because he was always thinking about this stuff) said something about financial resources and staffing challenges. Schaller just shook his head no. Dick tried again by identifying some assimilation and discipleship challenges we were facing at the time because we were encountering great growth. I think Schaller, in response, told him he was "stupid", and to try again. Dick, now throughly stumped, mumbled something about some other challenge, but once again, was dressed down by this frumpy looking man in his 80's who had forgotten more about church development than most people would ever know.
"Sir", Schaller asked, "how old are you?"
"61", said Dick.
"Well then, what are you and your congregation doing now to plan for the day that you are no longer with them, for this is the single greatest challenge that they face, right now."
That was the day that we were introduced to the concept of succession. A process by which a Senior Pastor finds somebody who can come on-board as a staff person and, after a given period during a time filled with great planning and prayer, transition into the role of the new Senior Pastor. Given the complexity of our situation at Goshen (multiple sites serving multiple generations and socio-economic classes in multiple worship settings) Dick really got juiced when he heard about this, and even took the idea to the "powers that be" in the United Methodist Church.
Succession is subversive to our polity. Instead of a Bishop simply making an appointment of a pastor to a church, the Senior Pastor and the lay-leadership of a church largely get to help make the call as to whether or not a new pastor will "make it", or not. To trust in this process is to trust that someone other than the Bishop and the Cabinet (those who assist the Bishop in governing the conference) might have a sense of what the Lord might want in terms of a pastoral appointment. This is largely a foreign idea to UM's, but given the rapid decline (in terms of membership and church attendance) of our denomination over the last forty years, maybe its an idea whose time has come. At least, it could be explored (and it will be in my doctoral thesis!).
Well, anyhow, Dick never got anywhere with a plan of succession, and then he passed away unexpectedly, which caught everyone off-guard. I wonder what might have been if this process had been explored further, and a risk had been taken to do something new to bring stability to a local church? I guess we'll never know.
OK.... enough heavy stuff.
5) To all the nay-sayers who claim that Andre Igoudala was robbed in this year's NBA Dunk Contest, I respond with this: A guy (Nate Robinson) who's only 5' 8" jumped OVER a guy (Spud Webb) 5' 8" WHO WAS STANDING UP to win the contest. How does he not win?
6) Can't say I've watched even one hour of the Winter Olympics. Even skipped my old favorites, skiing and curling (an obsession that developed a year that I watched the 98 Winter Olympics on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, or CBC, where they take curling very seriously) . I just never got into it.
7) Seems like cooler heads are finally prevailing in the Arab world, as Muslem leaders throughout the Middle East are now calling for an end to the violent, and sometimes bloody, protests of the cartoons featuring Mohammed that were published in a variety of European newspapers. In light of these events, I guess my question is this: If your hope for that region of the world is the spreading of democracy, and democracy is predicated on the free-flow of ideas and communication, how in the world is this going to work in a culture that freely burns the flags of sovereign nations simultaneous to using violence to curb the freedom of self-expression? Seems like quite a challenge.
8) Our youth pastor, Brent Sloan, decided to cancel the annual youth ski trip to Boyne Highlands this past weekend. Given the abundance of snow (good for skiing, and bad for travel) and the frigid temperatures (bad for skiing, bad for travel), I think he made the right call. He had to take some heat from some unhappy kids, but that just goes with the territory. There's nothing worse than skiing in 30 mph winds when the temp outside is -3 degrees (and whatever wind chill is in effect). You don't want to be outside in those conditions under any circumstances.
9) Tonight, I heard Barb Brenneman, our Older Adult Coordinator, say that aging process is like a big vacuum that sucks all the life right out of us. This vivid (and accurate) description hits home tongiht as we found out today that Aimee's grandmother has been admitted into a nursing home after taking a nasty fall last week that ended up putting her in the hospital. Given that she can't remember falling, or why she ended up hospitalized, I think her husband (Sherman, who will be turning 95 this summer) and their kids really had no other choice. If she ever gets out of the nursing facility, we're told that Sherman has decided that they both will need to move into an Assisted Living facility, a hard decision for a man who wants desperately to stay in the home he built himself many, many years ago. As I hear that vacuum running, I feel badly for them both. Keep them, and my wife who is traveling to Toledo tomorrow to pay them a visit, in your prayers.
10) And finally, pray for our Medical Team in Haiti this week. The news out of Haiti hasn't been all that good lately, but that's generally the case for places in the world ravaged by disease and poverty. Just keep these good folks in your prayers as they attempt to do some very good things over the course of the next week.
1) Sorry to post this thing a day late. This weekend, Aimee and Bryan Bucher took another wary step forward as parents. Max, who turned seven (can that be right? seven? really? is that possible?) last Friday asked for an overnight birthday party, which we hosted on Sunday night (which was possible because the kids had no school on Monday). The evening consisted of a trip up to the YMCA for some swimming, the eating of copius amounts of food (first graders can eat when they put their mind to it), the watching of many movies on the "big screen" in the basement, and (the hit of the evening) the playing of multiple video games on multiple X-Boxes hooked up to multiple TV's.
In other words, we provided what is pretty much a vision of heaven for suburban, American first grade boys.
Thus I missed posting this yesterday, not because they wore us ragged (actually, all hands on deck were asleep by 10:30pm), but because one of the boys at the party was Max's best friend, Mitchell, who lives in our old stomping ground of Goshen, Indiana. So, yesterday, I drove to Goshen to drop off Mitchell, stopped to see an old friend (more on that later), and returned home just-in-time for a Staff-Parish Committee Meeting. Hope the extra day's wait didn't cause too much anxiety. It's just the price y'all had to pay because Aimee and I pro-created.
2) The old friend I visited during my brief (two hours) visit to the Maple City was Karen Lyndon. Karen's husband, Dick, was my Senior Pastor at Goshen First UMC for about 4 1/2 years until his untimely and tragic death. Dick died very unexpectedly in January of 2003 of ARDS (Accute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) which was complicated by the failure of his liver. I don't believe that I, or anyone who truly loved him, have ever gotten over his loss, as he was a wonderful, creative pastor, and an even better human being.
Anyhow, I hadn't seen Karen in quite some time, so this sojourn northwest provided me with the opportunity to catch up on what had been going on with her, her kids, and grandkids (two of which I served as a youth pastor while in that fine city). I think the fallout from Dick's passing is still affecting them all, but I was proud of how well I thought Karen was coping with her new reality. I was also very happy to hear that now you might catch her volunteering at the local Hospital or with Hospice of Goshen. I know she enjoyed catching up and seeing the boys (except for Eli, who didn't make the trip with us... we brought pictures, though), and I enjoyed just spending time with someone who loves our family, and we love back. I hope she knows how much I enjoyed, and needed, this visit. Thanks Karen!
3) It's weird, sometimes, how things kinda fall together. This morning, around 8am, Joseph called to ask if I'd host our latest edition of Koinania (a corporate Bible study). He was now expecting unexpected company this evening, and Charlotte (our other Associate Pastor) had left for Haiti with the Medical Team early this morning, so now he was calling in the "third string QB". This wasn't a surprise, actually, as this happens a lot when you are an associate pastor. No, the weird part of the request was that he asked me, as a way of starting off the evening, to do a short Bible Study and devotion on the passage in Deuteronomy 31 where Moses, facing his own death, names his successor, Joshua.
"I thought you could talk about your experience with Dick while you in Goshen", Joseph said. "About needing to lead even though the leader of the group had passed away."
When you go back to something painful in your life, as you unpack the experience again, inevitably you pick at the "scab" that's covering the wound in your soul. So, when I took this phone call, knowing what you now know about my journey yesterday, you'll understand when I say that Joseph's request literally took my breath away. To re-live what had been a very painful experience was one thing.... to share a piece of that experience with 35 people is another. And while, as a pastor, I share a considerable amount of my own personal journey with others, that doesn't mean that it's easy (or, often, wise) to do so.
But the folks tonight were gracious as I struggled recollecting certain moments in history that have help shape what I have become, much in the same way intense heat makes it possible for a metal piece to be re-shaped and molded. And I learned something as I re-lived, mentally, what it was like to try to minister to your boss and his family, while also leading a congregation...
You can reach closure in the aftermath of a crisis like this, without reaching a point where the pain goes away. For closure, I believe, only comes when we accept that God is God, and we are not, and because we aren't God, we can't fully know what in the world He's doing. We can only trust that he still loves us as we stare in the abyss of great mystery. And the pain, well, it never ever really goes away if you truly love somebody. It's just a part of the bond we developed with someone who we loved, and loved us. So, its possible, I think, to reach a point of closure, but still experience pain. Maybe this isn't an earth-shattering revelation, but it made me feel better. Thanks to tonight's presenters, Linda Lawson and Barb Brenneman, the good questions of tonight's participants, and a great conversation yesterday with Karen for helping me see this in a new light.
4) About four or five years ago, Dick and I were at a conference where the presenter, a church-consultant named Lyle Schaller, asked Dick this question:
What is the single most important question facing your congregation right now?
Dick, immediately (because he was always thinking about this stuff) said something about financial resources and staffing challenges. Schaller just shook his head no. Dick tried again by identifying some assimilation and discipleship challenges we were facing at the time because we were encountering great growth. I think Schaller, in response, told him he was "stupid", and to try again. Dick, now throughly stumped, mumbled something about some other challenge, but once again, was dressed down by this frumpy looking man in his 80's who had forgotten more about church development than most people would ever know.
"Sir", Schaller asked, "how old are you?"
"61", said Dick.
"Well then, what are you and your congregation doing now to plan for the day that you are no longer with them, for this is the single greatest challenge that they face, right now."
That was the day that we were introduced to the concept of succession. A process by which a Senior Pastor finds somebody who can come on-board as a staff person and, after a given period during a time filled with great planning and prayer, transition into the role of the new Senior Pastor. Given the complexity of our situation at Goshen (multiple sites serving multiple generations and socio-economic classes in multiple worship settings) Dick really got juiced when he heard about this, and even took the idea to the "powers that be" in the United Methodist Church.
Succession is subversive to our polity. Instead of a Bishop simply making an appointment of a pastor to a church, the Senior Pastor and the lay-leadership of a church largely get to help make the call as to whether or not a new pastor will "make it", or not. To trust in this process is to trust that someone other than the Bishop and the Cabinet (those who assist the Bishop in governing the conference) might have a sense of what the Lord might want in terms of a pastoral appointment. This is largely a foreign idea to UM's, but given the rapid decline (in terms of membership and church attendance) of our denomination over the last forty years, maybe its an idea whose time has come. At least, it could be explored (and it will be in my doctoral thesis!).
Well, anyhow, Dick never got anywhere with a plan of succession, and then he passed away unexpectedly, which caught everyone off-guard. I wonder what might have been if this process had been explored further, and a risk had been taken to do something new to bring stability to a local church? I guess we'll never know.
OK.... enough heavy stuff.
5) To all the nay-sayers who claim that Andre Igoudala was robbed in this year's NBA Dunk Contest, I respond with this: A guy (Nate Robinson) who's only 5' 8" jumped OVER a guy (Spud Webb) 5' 8" WHO WAS STANDING UP to win the contest. How does he not win?
6) Can't say I've watched even one hour of the Winter Olympics. Even skipped my old favorites, skiing and curling (an obsession that developed a year that I watched the 98 Winter Olympics on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, or CBC, where they take curling very seriously) . I just never got into it.
7) Seems like cooler heads are finally prevailing in the Arab world, as Muslem leaders throughout the Middle East are now calling for an end to the violent, and sometimes bloody, protests of the cartoons featuring Mohammed that were published in a variety of European newspapers. In light of these events, I guess my question is this: If your hope for that region of the world is the spreading of democracy, and democracy is predicated on the free-flow of ideas and communication, how in the world is this going to work in a culture that freely burns the flags of sovereign nations simultaneous to using violence to curb the freedom of self-expression? Seems like quite a challenge.
8) Our youth pastor, Brent Sloan, decided to cancel the annual youth ski trip to Boyne Highlands this past weekend. Given the abundance of snow (good for skiing, and bad for travel) and the frigid temperatures (bad for skiing, bad for travel), I think he made the right call. He had to take some heat from some unhappy kids, but that just goes with the territory. There's nothing worse than skiing in 30 mph winds when the temp outside is -3 degrees (and whatever wind chill is in effect). You don't want to be outside in those conditions under any circumstances.
9) Tonight, I heard Barb Brenneman, our Older Adult Coordinator, say that aging process is like a big vacuum that sucks all the life right out of us. This vivid (and accurate) description hits home tongiht as we found out today that Aimee's grandmother has been admitted into a nursing home after taking a nasty fall last week that ended up putting her in the hospital. Given that she can't remember falling, or why she ended up hospitalized, I think her husband (Sherman, who will be turning 95 this summer) and their kids really had no other choice. If she ever gets out of the nursing facility, we're told that Sherman has decided that they both will need to move into an Assisted Living facility, a hard decision for a man who wants desperately to stay in the home he built himself many, many years ago. As I hear that vacuum running, I feel badly for them both. Keep them, and my wife who is traveling to Toledo tomorrow to pay them a visit, in your prayers.
10) And finally, pray for our Medical Team in Haiti this week. The news out of Haiti hasn't been all that good lately, but that's generally the case for places in the world ravaged by disease and poverty. Just keep these good folks in your prayers as they attempt to do some very good things over the course of the next week.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Ten Things I Think I Think
1) Caused a minor stir last week with a blog reader who likes the Rolling Stones, and can't stand Michael Stipe (lead singer for R.E.M.). Has reached the point where today, the disgruntled reader has sent me a recording of The Stones live and in-concert (made by someone on their cell phone) to convince me, I'm assuming, that the age of the members of the band hasn't diminished their ability to play live. The disgruntled blogger is also dismayed with Mr. Stipe because he has little or no appreciation for The Beatles, a band the said blogger appreciates greatly.
The lesson in all of this, for those of you who wish to go into the ministry, is that it is rarely an issue of theology or biblical interpretation that gets you into trouble with your congregation. More likely, you, as a pastor, will be taken to task for something you did, or said, or wrote that has nothing to do with anything remotely connected to the Christian faith. You'll use a piece of slang or say something meant to be funny in conversation, or in a sermon, that someone finds offensive. You'll use an illustration from a movie, and get a letter because that movie was rated "R", or starred an actor that made a controversial political statement (fill in the blank) years ago. You'll wear the wrong tie, the wrong shirt, or an "improper robe" (a comment made when someone found out that I had bought my robe at a used clothing store called "The Velvet Elvis" for $25). It just comes with the territory. Just learn to take it in stride.
Fortunately I've virtually not encountered this kind of trouble at Shawnee. Either the folks here are exceptionally grace-filled, I'm finally getting smarter, or both.
2) Speak of "velvet elvi", I'm reading a good book right now entitled "Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith", by Rob Bell, pastor at Mars Hill Community Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Here's an excerpt..
If there is a divine being who made everything, including us, what would our experiences with this being look like? The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God. We are dealing with somebody we made up. And if we made him up, then we are in control. And so in passage after passage, we find God reminding people that he is beyond and bigger and more.
Here's another...
I was reading last year in one of the national newsmagazines about a gathering of the leaders of a massive Christian denomination (literally millions of members worldwide). The reason their annual gathering was in the news was that they had voted to reaffirm their view of the importance of the verse that says a wife's role is to submit to her husband. This is a big deal to them. This is what made news. This is what they are known for.
What about the verse before that verse? What about the verse after it? What about the verse that talks about women having authority over their husbands (I Cor 7:4)? What about all of the marriages in which this verse has been used to oppress and mistreat women?
If you're curious, and would like to read more, get Rob's book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031026345X/002-3327924-7944860?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155
3) I wish I could say that I were "into" the Winter Olympics this year, but I'm not. I just don't care for NBC's coverage of the events. Too much "fluff" to make us care about the athletes. Too many edits so that the requisite number of commercials are shown. In 1998, I watched the Winter Olympics on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and was shocked to find out that they spend their time broadcasting the athletes competing. Not just Canadian athletes, or the events the Canadians have a chance of winning a medal in, but just all the athletes and events, in general, at the time they are being shown. Spent a lot of hours in the middle of the night watching live, uncut, unedited curling that year, and I've been dissatisfied ever since. I wish NBC would just show the events.
4) Did you ever expect that you'd see the headline, "Vice-President Shoots Friend While Quail Hunting" in your life?
5) I talked a little about evil yesterday. About how evil can take something good, like bread, and twist it in a way that can divide us and destroy us. I told a story about how my wife and I wanted to get married, but spent more time worrying about the wedding than the marriage, and how when the honeymoon ended, we really had no idea how to live together. So we fought about stupid stuff ("where the hairbrush was going to be stored" should be the leading vote getter for most stupid thing to argue about in the history of marital arguments), and in the process, a beautiful thing (our relationship with one another) was slowly being eroded. To the point where after only four months of marriage, we were talking about a divorce. We stayed married (fifteen years, and counting), but we had to, and still must, become vigilant about not letting evil, which is the elimination of love, get a foothold in our relationship together. To not let petty things add up, and turn into huge things that would have cost us much (our three boys, for starters). And to try and break the ongoing grip that evil can have as it gets passed down, sometimes generation to generation, by countering it with going good (which is the "right thing" to do).
Easier said than done, I know, but a whole lot easier as we mutually encourage one another toward righteous living in an attitude of grace. For on this is next week's post.
6) A big "thank you" to Kelli Raines, a blog reader who recommended the movie "Crash" to me. Haven't rented it yet, but I will do so this weekend.
7) This just out of Haiti about the election: With 90% of the vote in, the leader in votes is a member of the same political party as ousted former president Aristide. The same political enemies of Aristide are already claiming widespread election fraud and manipulation, and the Aristide-ites are claiming that ballots are missing for their man (the leader, Rene Preval), so that a runoff election will have to take place in March (if nobody gets 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters run again, and Preval is at about 48%). How is this not going to end badly? You can read about it here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11315571/
8) Xavier had a meltdown at pre-school today over some issue involving marshmallows. He's really an easy-going boy, but for whatever reason, the marshmallows issue just set him off. It took him almost an hour to settle down, and in the end he fell asleep in my arms. I've never seen such passion over marshmallows in my life. Chocolate maybe, but never marshmallows.
9) Max is turning seven this week, and my wife has agreed to let him have an overnight party for he and seven of his buddies (including Xavie) this Sunday (the kids get President's Day off). She has determined that she gets the "day duty", and I get the "night duty". Please say a little prayer for this poor dad who'll be trying to get eight little boys to go to sleep.
10) And finally, here's a big "thumbs up" to the OSU basketball team. I don't watch much college basketball (except for the NCAA tourney), but in a year where the big story in Columbus has been the players (i.e. Greg Oden) who are coming to play for the Buckeyes next year, you gotta love a team that's scrapped its way to an 18-3 record. Kudos to Thad Motta for the coaching job he's done this season.
1) Caused a minor stir last week with a blog reader who likes the Rolling Stones, and can't stand Michael Stipe (lead singer for R.E.M.). Has reached the point where today, the disgruntled reader has sent me a recording of The Stones live and in-concert (made by someone on their cell phone) to convince me, I'm assuming, that the age of the members of the band hasn't diminished their ability to play live. The disgruntled blogger is also dismayed with Mr. Stipe because he has little or no appreciation for The Beatles, a band the said blogger appreciates greatly.
The lesson in all of this, for those of you who wish to go into the ministry, is that it is rarely an issue of theology or biblical interpretation that gets you into trouble with your congregation. More likely, you, as a pastor, will be taken to task for something you did, or said, or wrote that has nothing to do with anything remotely connected to the Christian faith. You'll use a piece of slang or say something meant to be funny in conversation, or in a sermon, that someone finds offensive. You'll use an illustration from a movie, and get a letter because that movie was rated "R", or starred an actor that made a controversial political statement (fill in the blank) years ago. You'll wear the wrong tie, the wrong shirt, or an "improper robe" (a comment made when someone found out that I had bought my robe at a used clothing store called "The Velvet Elvis" for $25). It just comes with the territory. Just learn to take it in stride.
Fortunately I've virtually not encountered this kind of trouble at Shawnee. Either the folks here are exceptionally grace-filled, I'm finally getting smarter, or both.
2) Speak of "velvet elvi", I'm reading a good book right now entitled "Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith", by Rob Bell, pastor at Mars Hill Community Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Here's an excerpt..
If there is a divine being who made everything, including us, what would our experiences with this being look like? The moment God is figured out with nice neat lines and definitions, we are no longer dealing with God. We are dealing with somebody we made up. And if we made him up, then we are in control. And so in passage after passage, we find God reminding people that he is beyond and bigger and more.
Here's another...
I was reading last year in one of the national newsmagazines about a gathering of the leaders of a massive Christian denomination (literally millions of members worldwide). The reason their annual gathering was in the news was that they had voted to reaffirm their view of the importance of the verse that says a wife's role is to submit to her husband. This is a big deal to them. This is what made news. This is what they are known for.
What about the verse before that verse? What about the verse after it? What about the verse that talks about women having authority over their husbands (I Cor 7:4)? What about all of the marriages in which this verse has been used to oppress and mistreat women?
If you're curious, and would like to read more, get Rob's book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031026345X/002-3327924-7944860?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155
3) I wish I could say that I were "into" the Winter Olympics this year, but I'm not. I just don't care for NBC's coverage of the events. Too much "fluff" to make us care about the athletes. Too many edits so that the requisite number of commercials are shown. In 1998, I watched the Winter Olympics on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and was shocked to find out that they spend their time broadcasting the athletes competing. Not just Canadian athletes, or the events the Canadians have a chance of winning a medal in, but just all the athletes and events, in general, at the time they are being shown. Spent a lot of hours in the middle of the night watching live, uncut, unedited curling that year, and I've been dissatisfied ever since. I wish NBC would just show the events.
4) Did you ever expect that you'd see the headline, "Vice-President Shoots Friend While Quail Hunting" in your life?
5) I talked a little about evil yesterday. About how evil can take something good, like bread, and twist it in a way that can divide us and destroy us. I told a story about how my wife and I wanted to get married, but spent more time worrying about the wedding than the marriage, and how when the honeymoon ended, we really had no idea how to live together. So we fought about stupid stuff ("where the hairbrush was going to be stored" should be the leading vote getter for most stupid thing to argue about in the history of marital arguments), and in the process, a beautiful thing (our relationship with one another) was slowly being eroded. To the point where after only four months of marriage, we were talking about a divorce. We stayed married (fifteen years, and counting), but we had to, and still must, become vigilant about not letting evil, which is the elimination of love, get a foothold in our relationship together. To not let petty things add up, and turn into huge things that would have cost us much (our three boys, for starters). And to try and break the ongoing grip that evil can have as it gets passed down, sometimes generation to generation, by countering it with going good (which is the "right thing" to do).
Easier said than done, I know, but a whole lot easier as we mutually encourage one another toward righteous living in an attitude of grace. For on this is next week's post.
6) A big "thank you" to Kelli Raines, a blog reader who recommended the movie "Crash" to me. Haven't rented it yet, but I will do so this weekend.
7) This just out of Haiti about the election: With 90% of the vote in, the leader in votes is a member of the same political party as ousted former president Aristide. The same political enemies of Aristide are already claiming widespread election fraud and manipulation, and the Aristide-ites are claiming that ballots are missing for their man (the leader, Rene Preval), so that a runoff election will have to take place in March (if nobody gets 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters run again, and Preval is at about 48%). How is this not going to end badly? You can read about it here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11315571/
8) Xavier had a meltdown at pre-school today over some issue involving marshmallows. He's really an easy-going boy, but for whatever reason, the marshmallows issue just set him off. It took him almost an hour to settle down, and in the end he fell asleep in my arms. I've never seen such passion over marshmallows in my life. Chocolate maybe, but never marshmallows.
9) Max is turning seven this week, and my wife has agreed to let him have an overnight party for he and seven of his buddies (including Xavie) this Sunday (the kids get President's Day off). She has determined that she gets the "day duty", and I get the "night duty". Please say a little prayer for this poor dad who'll be trying to get eight little boys to go to sleep.
10) And finally, here's a big "thumbs up" to the OSU basketball team. I don't watch much college basketball (except for the NCAA tourney), but in a year where the big story in Columbus has been the players (i.e. Greg Oden) who are coming to play for the Buckeyes next year, you gotta love a team that's scrapped its way to an 18-3 record. Kudos to Thad Motta for the coaching job he's done this season.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Ten Things I Think I Think (Super Bowl Edition)
1) I think last night's Super Bowl wasn't a classic, but it was entertaining. Big Ben's performance wasn't his best, but he did what was needed to get the job done (I feel that way on occasional Sundays). It was good to see an organization like the Steelers which exhibits "old school" values like loyalty, integrity, and character win the big one. How refreshing it is that a coach had 14 years to win a Super Bowl in an age when coaches are out the door if they have a losing season. I hope this example of patience isn't lost on us all.
2) As for the halftime show, it was, well, I don't know, kinda not-so-good. I think a bunch of old guys ate the Rolling Stones and are touring under their name.
3) Can you believe that not one person talked about one of the commercials from the Super Bowl last night in this office? Not one "office cooler" moment from any of the hundreds of ads last night, which is just, stunning. You'd think that a million-plus per 30-second spot there'd have been at least one memorable commercial.... I'll betcha heads are rolling on Madison avenue in the coming weeks.
4) A great Haiti Sunday yesterday at church. Some truly great stories came out of this year's "construction team" experience (our medical teams leave in a couple of weeks). As a part of the experience, the team built a home on a piece of land owned by our partner church in Bordes' which will house a single woman who is caring for three handicapped daughters. The picture of Brian Adams, one of our team members, carrying the oldest daughter, who is blind, from her old lean-to hut into a solid home sent chills down the spine. Larry Dietering's story of a Haitian immigrant working at a Starbucks in West Palm Beach refusing to take his money for a cup of coffee as thanks for "helping her people", tugged on the heart strings. All in all, just a great service.
It costs this congregation about $10,500 a year to educate and feed 180 elementary school students, and employ 8 teachers to do the job, at the Victory Christian School of Bordes, Haiti. $45 per student and $300 per teacher. If you would like to support a teacher or student for the 2006-2007 school year, please contact me at revbdb@woh.rr.com . Your contribution is tax-deductable and every penny you give will go to VCS, as we take absolutely nothing for administrative costs (we just send the money to the school administrator, who keep copius records to insure that the money will be used properly). And, remember that your $45 includes a meal a day for your student, which is in addition to their tuition, books, and supplies. It's the best deal going in education.
5) Since I'm one of about only 14 people left in the country that care about the NBA, I considered it very bad news when it was announced last week that Chris Andersen, a forward for the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (they are in OC this season due to Katrina) was suspended two years for violating the league's drug policy. A two year suspension for a first time offense means that Andersen had to test positive for a "drug of abuse", which would include methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine, or LSD (and all of its derivatives). Andersen had a tough road to NBA. Never a star, he worked his way up playing in pro leagues all over the globe, and eventually catching on in the NBDL, the NBA's "minor league". His long journey, and colorful style made him popular among fans in NO/OK and his performance in the dunk contest last year (which was awful) made him kind of a folk hero among hardcore NBA fans.
I had Andersen on (and off) my fantasy league team last year, and enjoyed following his career, which just seemed to be taking off. A kid who grew up in a group home, Andersen has had a rough life. I hope and pray he receives the help he needs to get his life on track, or that this positive test was a terrible mistake.
6) Our X-Box, which had been broken, returned from Microsoft today, fixed and ready to go. The boys, who had been waiting to play new games they received as Christmas gifts, were glad to see me come home from work..... so the X-Box could be hooked up. Needless to say the hero's welcome I received this evening, and the parade given my honor after the X-Box was working, gave way to blank stares and apparently, my invisability. Oh well... at least I can play "NBA '06" after they go to sleep.
7) "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine". I miss REM (Note to my grandmother: REM was a popular band in the late eighties and early nineties who made music that wasn't defined by the culture, but defined the culture. This is a lyric from one of their best songs, which I am listening to on ITunes). Seems like most of the new music out there now is just crap. I mean, I remember my mom and dad saying the same thing about bands like REM, but none-the-less, I just can't listen to music on popular radio any more. Dr. Bishman, our Senior Pastor, raves about the band Coldplay, but to be honest loyal blog-readers, they're just a poor-man's version of U2. Since Joseph, who is about the age of my parents, thought all the music of my era was crap (and hence, missed U2 in the process), he can enjoy Coldplay as something new and innovative. I guess ignorance really is bliss.
8) Watched "Lord of War" the other night, and if the movie was supposed to make the people who watched it angry, than it worked for me. If you haven't seen it (and if some swear words, sex scenes, drug use, and copius violence offends you easily... then rent the "Sound of Music" instead), the movie is the story of a man who becomes one of the world's first and foremost illegal arms dealers. Since the guy gets rich selling AK-47's to African warlords who use cocaine to hook boys as young as 7 years old (the age Max will be in a couple of weeks) into fighting in their private militia and committing genocide, he's not exactly a lovable hero. For those who have heard the horror stories that have come out of Liberia and Sierra Leone, this movie will upset you in ways you can't even imagine ( I know it did me). But there is a kicker ending, which I won't spoil, and the entire movie is really a set-up to make a strong political statement about the nature of war on this planet right now... and it's a statement that makes you think. How you react to it will determine how "red" or "blue" you are. Enjoy it, if you dare.
And for those who don't really want to think while they're watching a movie, get "Madagascar". Aimee, the boys, and I loved it!
9) I find it amazing that a small newspaper with a readership of 150,000 people in a small country of 5 million virtually-not-islamic people could spark the kind of protests that are going on across the Muslem world.
First, it shows just how quickly and far information can be transmitted on this planet. I don't think there are many people in Saudia Arabia who read the Jyllands-Posten. It was only after the cartoons in question were reported on Arabic TV and were transmitted on the internet that people went nuts. Time and distance are quickly becoming meaningless when it comes to transmitting information.
Second, the cartoons were an attempt on the publisher's part to illustrate the need for free speech and freedom of expression, even if you are afraid of the reaction it might receive. Well, after numerous Danish embassies were attacked, and the Iranian Parliment debated whether or not to issue a fatwah on the editor's heads (like S. Rushdie, years ago), you have to wonder if the lesson they hoped to teach wasn't missed in the Arab world. And what's more, one wonders what it would be like to live in a place where criticism of a particular religion would result in violence and death. All I know is that if you think I'm drawing a cartoon of Mohammed anytime soon, you're crazy.
What is going on the Arab world that's inspiring this kind of hatred and violence?
10) And finally, I'll be preaching this Sunday on the nature of evil (as inspired by the depiction of temptation in the C.S. Lewis', "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe") which generally comes us in forms we mistake as gifts of grace. I hope you enjoy it, find it helpful, and keeps you awake. And if you miss it, I'll try and re-cap here next week.
Until next time...
1) I think last night's Super Bowl wasn't a classic, but it was entertaining. Big Ben's performance wasn't his best, but he did what was needed to get the job done (I feel that way on occasional Sundays). It was good to see an organization like the Steelers which exhibits "old school" values like loyalty, integrity, and character win the big one. How refreshing it is that a coach had 14 years to win a Super Bowl in an age when coaches are out the door if they have a losing season. I hope this example of patience isn't lost on us all.
2) As for the halftime show, it was, well, I don't know, kinda not-so-good. I think a bunch of old guys ate the Rolling Stones and are touring under their name.
3) Can you believe that not one person talked about one of the commercials from the Super Bowl last night in this office? Not one "office cooler" moment from any of the hundreds of ads last night, which is just, stunning. You'd think that a million-plus per 30-second spot there'd have been at least one memorable commercial.... I'll betcha heads are rolling on Madison avenue in the coming weeks.
4) A great Haiti Sunday yesterday at church. Some truly great stories came out of this year's "construction team" experience (our medical teams leave in a couple of weeks). As a part of the experience, the team built a home on a piece of land owned by our partner church in Bordes' which will house a single woman who is caring for three handicapped daughters. The picture of Brian Adams, one of our team members, carrying the oldest daughter, who is blind, from her old lean-to hut into a solid home sent chills down the spine. Larry Dietering's story of a Haitian immigrant working at a Starbucks in West Palm Beach refusing to take his money for a cup of coffee as thanks for "helping her people", tugged on the heart strings. All in all, just a great service.
It costs this congregation about $10,500 a year to educate and feed 180 elementary school students, and employ 8 teachers to do the job, at the Victory Christian School of Bordes, Haiti. $45 per student and $300 per teacher. If you would like to support a teacher or student for the 2006-2007 school year, please contact me at revbdb@woh.rr.com . Your contribution is tax-deductable and every penny you give will go to VCS, as we take absolutely nothing for administrative costs (we just send the money to the school administrator, who keep copius records to insure that the money will be used properly). And, remember that your $45 includes a meal a day for your student, which is in addition to their tuition, books, and supplies. It's the best deal going in education.
5) Since I'm one of about only 14 people left in the country that care about the NBA, I considered it very bad news when it was announced last week that Chris Andersen, a forward for the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (they are in OC this season due to Katrina) was suspended two years for violating the league's drug policy. A two year suspension for a first time offense means that Andersen had to test positive for a "drug of abuse", which would include methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine, or LSD (and all of its derivatives). Andersen had a tough road to NBA. Never a star, he worked his way up playing in pro leagues all over the globe, and eventually catching on in the NBDL, the NBA's "minor league". His long journey, and colorful style made him popular among fans in NO/OK and his performance in the dunk contest last year (which was awful) made him kind of a folk hero among hardcore NBA fans.
I had Andersen on (and off) my fantasy league team last year, and enjoyed following his career, which just seemed to be taking off. A kid who grew up in a group home, Andersen has had a rough life. I hope and pray he receives the help he needs to get his life on track, or that this positive test was a terrible mistake.
6) Our X-Box, which had been broken, returned from Microsoft today, fixed and ready to go. The boys, who had been waiting to play new games they received as Christmas gifts, were glad to see me come home from work..... so the X-Box could be hooked up. Needless to say the hero's welcome I received this evening, and the parade given my honor after the X-Box was working, gave way to blank stares and apparently, my invisability. Oh well... at least I can play "NBA '06" after they go to sleep.
7) "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine". I miss REM (Note to my grandmother: REM was a popular band in the late eighties and early nineties who made music that wasn't defined by the culture, but defined the culture. This is a lyric from one of their best songs, which I am listening to on ITunes). Seems like most of the new music out there now is just crap. I mean, I remember my mom and dad saying the same thing about bands like REM, but none-the-less, I just can't listen to music on popular radio any more. Dr. Bishman, our Senior Pastor, raves about the band Coldplay, but to be honest loyal blog-readers, they're just a poor-man's version of U2. Since Joseph, who is about the age of my parents, thought all the music of my era was crap (and hence, missed U2 in the process), he can enjoy Coldplay as something new and innovative. I guess ignorance really is bliss.
8) Watched "Lord of War" the other night, and if the movie was supposed to make the people who watched it angry, than it worked for me. If you haven't seen it (and if some swear words, sex scenes, drug use, and copius violence offends you easily... then rent the "Sound of Music" instead), the movie is the story of a man who becomes one of the world's first and foremost illegal arms dealers. Since the guy gets rich selling AK-47's to African warlords who use cocaine to hook boys as young as 7 years old (the age Max will be in a couple of weeks) into fighting in their private militia and committing genocide, he's not exactly a lovable hero. For those who have heard the horror stories that have come out of Liberia and Sierra Leone, this movie will upset you in ways you can't even imagine ( I know it did me). But there is a kicker ending, which I won't spoil, and the entire movie is really a set-up to make a strong political statement about the nature of war on this planet right now... and it's a statement that makes you think. How you react to it will determine how "red" or "blue" you are. Enjoy it, if you dare.
And for those who don't really want to think while they're watching a movie, get "Madagascar". Aimee, the boys, and I loved it!
9) I find it amazing that a small newspaper with a readership of 150,000 people in a small country of 5 million virtually-not-islamic people could spark the kind of protests that are going on across the Muslem world.
First, it shows just how quickly and far information can be transmitted on this planet. I don't think there are many people in Saudia Arabia who read the Jyllands-Posten. It was only after the cartoons in question were reported on Arabic TV and were transmitted on the internet that people went nuts. Time and distance are quickly becoming meaningless when it comes to transmitting information.
Second, the cartoons were an attempt on the publisher's part to illustrate the need for free speech and freedom of expression, even if you are afraid of the reaction it might receive. Well, after numerous Danish embassies were attacked, and the Iranian Parliment debated whether or not to issue a fatwah on the editor's heads (like S. Rushdie, years ago), you have to wonder if the lesson they hoped to teach wasn't missed in the Arab world. And what's more, one wonders what it would be like to live in a place where criticism of a particular religion would result in violence and death. All I know is that if you think I'm drawing a cartoon of Mohammed anytime soon, you're crazy.
What is going on the Arab world that's inspiring this kind of hatred and violence?
10) And finally, I'll be preaching this Sunday on the nature of evil (as inspired by the depiction of temptation in the C.S. Lewis', "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe") which generally comes us in forms we mistake as gifts of grace. I hope you enjoy it, find it helpful, and keeps you awake. And if you miss it, I'll try and re-cap here next week.
Until next time...
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